China in Africa: maybe it's only money

I was speculating what the Chinese were up to in Africa the other day. It seems like the answer might be quite mundane: filling the pockets of the nomenklatura.

Unfortunately, wicked post-colonialist ideas of press freedom may have tripped them up, as the Namibians have arrested three people over a corruption scam involving a company managed by Hu Haifeng, the son of President Hu Jintao, and it has got all over the local media (as well as The Daily Telegraph). It seems that Chinese government finance for airport security scanners has been diverted to a dodgy company offering “consultancy services”, whose three leading figures, two Namibians and a Chinese, are now in the slammer.

I had assumed that the Chinese could work well in Africa because both sides understand the culture of the well-hidden kickback. It seems not.

President Hu’s son’s role in all this is unclear. We should not necessarily read anything into the widespread belief that many large Chinese companies function as invisible money-funnels for the children of the leadership – the “princelings’ faction” as they are known. But corruption is increasingly a cause of resentment and social unrest within China, and so outsourcing it to Africa might appear a clever idea. So long as you don’t get caught; perhaps Namibia could use some Chinese advice on controlling the press.

The director of Namibia’s Anti-Corruption Commission, Paulus Noah, says he would like to question Nuctech’s management, including Mr Hu – though the latter is “not a suspect at this stage”. I would advise him not to hold his breath.

“I would like to know how they do business in China,” Noah says. Much the same as presidents’ sons do it anywhere else, I would imagine.