This essay is a love story, but with all love stories we never know how they will end or if the love is true. In September just before the China-Africa FOCAC summit in Beijing, journalists from China Daily interviewed Adama Barrow, president of The Gambia on Sino-Gambian relations and related matters. President Barrow spoke vividly about the great relations between China and The Gambia. According to him, there is a mutual understanding, respect and commitment to improve the love affair… sorry, the relations between these two countries.
Oh, how sweet that sounds! Every new relation begins with what they call the “honeymoon” phase. Everything is lovely, the partners look at one another with sparkles in their eyes. They hold hands and dream together about their glorious future.
I will stop there, as I can’t see President Barrow and any representative from China be kissing in the moonlight, and thank God for that. That would be too much for my sensitive stomach. The sparkles I am talking about are the ones the high and mighty from each of the countries feel when they think of new ways to use each other. They hold hands for a short while when they agreed on how to exchange money, and there is nothing sweet and cosy about that.
The debts you and your countrymen are so deep into already, will drown you and the future generations. Not even your great great, great grandkids will be debt free because of the cosiness between your current president and Xi Jinping, president of China.
For all of you, who have experienced a love affair, you know that when the so-called honeymoon phase is over, that is when the relationship is going to be proved. Will it last or will the partners split up? In a normal relationship, it is possible to split up and go your own way, but not in the case of The Gambia and China. You are tied at the hands and at the feet, in debts and no one will ever cut your shackles. The promises, the beautiful words of mutual respect and so forth are found worth nothing. They are like water poured on hot sand – gone forever and impossible to prove it had been there.
I hope and pray that I am wrong, for your sake, and for the future Gambians to come. We are many who fear that China is a modern day coloniser. Some say we are wrong, but I say: better safe than sorry. I have been through too much in life to believe in empty promises. I believe in what I can see; the results of hard work and commitment. In the Spanish language there is a word: manana. When said, it means that what will not be done today will be postponed for tomorrow, or the day after, or later, or not at all. That is an expression for laziness and not being serious about your commitments. The end result will cause frustration and you never know if you can trust that person again.
On the positive side of the Chinese interactions in The Gambia is that they can improve the infrastructure in the country. That is needed and has been undeveloped far too long. The facilitation of essential functions in the society like transportation of goods, people and services is one part of infrastructure. Building hospitals, schools and social institutions are also part of infrastructure development. There is also a third part of infrastructure and that is all people’s official and individual contact network. This works as a glue that it keeps people, societies and nations together. It is a structure held together by common knowledge, culture, history and traditions. The infrastructure is owned collectively, aimed to benefit all citizens in the country.
The unemployment rate in The Gambia is high, so we desperately need a lot of new jobs in the country. The Chinese emigration to Africa has increased and a lot of Chinese go legally, or illegally to countries like Senegal, Ghana, Zambia and Angola. They take jobs as builders, lumber jacks, gold diggers and even vegetable sellers at the local markets. The numbers are uncertain, but it is said that more than one million Chinese are already living in Africa. Considering how hard it is to get a proper job, we don’t need higher competition in the labour market. What we need in Africa are job opportunities and education, not higher competition and far less opportunities to get a job.
If Chinese companies should continue to expand and keep their relatively good relations with African governments, as well as the public opinion, they need to involve far more job opportunities for Africans. There are several areas where this could be the case, for example, in the manufacturing industry, which has been a dream among political leaders in Africa for a long time.
I wonder what Adama Barrow is dreaming about. Does he have a love for his country, a commitment to build up a country that gives its citizens what they need? Can we trust him when he has been out and about to meet the people on his tour?
Everything he says sounds so nice, but this is the problem with a love story: you want to believe what your loved one is telling you. You want to trust his words, you feel loyal to him and try not to doubt him even when you haven’t seen any special results of his great plans. You know the saying: If something seems too good to be true, it often is. I just want you all to be a little bit careful and not swallow every word from Barrow’s mouth like a baby bird. Every investment must be pondered, it must be based on facts and not beliefs.
The best investment in your future is knowledge. Educate yourself, educate your children. Make sure that you don’t trust everything just because your president, or your friend, spouse of even imam has said so. Use your common sense and question every case that sounds too good to be true. If there is a respectful relationship between China and The Gambia, I am happy for you, but be careful.
