A past China-Africa summit        Photo courtesy

China has helped redefine the "International Community" for Africa. For over a century, the international community has been framed by mostly Europe and United States of America. Africa's relation with its old European allies has little changed the continent  in terms of transforming its economies from "nature" driven to "knowledge" driven. China's trade with Africa jumped from $10.5 billion in the year 2000 to a record $106.8 billion in 2008. Will Africa engage China differently?  

 

I visited Elang'ata-wuas a small trading center deep in the sinuses of Kajiado district in Kenya. Elang'ata-wuas trading centre seats as if at the bottom of a soup bowl, surrounded by hills on all sides.  It is here that I met a young Masaai gentleman who has covered over 1,000 kilometers on foot in both Kenya and Tanzania, in search for pasture for his cattle.  The story of the trekking Maasai people is not different from Africans who despite the abundance in natural resources, remain at the mercy of nature.

 

Elang'ata-wuas popularly referred to as "Mile 46" is a sleepy trading center that wakes up only on Saturday- the market day. It brings together all sheds of Maasai communities from East Africa; one can mistake them for students in uniform - because all people turn up clad in the traditional Maasai red and blue shukas. "Can you imagine I had over 670 heads of cattle, but now I have less than 24." my good friend points out. Before I come up with my empathetic words, his colleagues interrupt, "Where is it raining now?" they ask. He looks up the horizon, pauses and then says "It is now raining heavily on the tarmac near Isinya." He looks up another direction. "It must be drizzling in Ngong!"

 

Curious, I seek to find out how he is able to triangulate to near accuracy where it is raining. I gather that herding cattle hundreds of miles across Kenya and Tanzania somehow enables one to develop some kind of mental "Google map." The Maasai knowledge is very similar to that of ancient sailors who exploited knowledge of Monsoon winds to sail across East African coasts.

 

As we continue to seep our warm drinks under a tree, rain drops pushed over by the wind from the hillside hit us. Whereas I expect everyone to dash for cover Nairobi style; I see happy faces and no movement. "You have brought rain, you must keep visiting!" they say. And sure enough, as if in celebration, we stay put, and do not feel any wetness, but joy!

 

The sharp rain detection skills exhibited by my friend and his ability to triangulate through the wilderness to get pasture for his cattle are amazing. What type of school system can turn such a person into an economically competitive member of society? Clearly, the Maasai and by extension other Kenyan/African communities do not necessarily require an education to turn them into civil servants and or employees of multinational corporations. We need an education that can respond to and leverage on our indigenous economies to make them globally competitive.  

 

The challenges facing the Maasai are not only water and pasture, but how to integrate their system into the global one.  For example, the Maasai traditionally save in cattle, the global system saves in banks and other financial institutions. The Maasai have a "photographic memory," the global system surrendered this chores to technology - one has to simply retrieve records. The Maasai has to rely on the rains - nature - to power his economy; the global economy is driven by human ingenuity. Suppose we designed a system that can make the Maasai learn in 30 minutes what it takes him/her to grasp after a 1,000km trek; what would be the outcome?  Maasai ranches!?  

 

Africa is very much in the Maasai pastoralist predicament at the moment. For long, Africa has been suffocated by the Western world view. China now offers a breather, that fresh breeze, that first rain drop after a long spell of drought. But like the Maasai friends who enjoyed the first drops of rain, unless the African people consciously push to take control of their economic and cultural destiny, the celebration will remain just that - a celebration. Nature will stare us in the face, the re-organized international community will continue to exploit the continent and turn Africans into mere laborers.

 

Ancient sailors were freed from reliance on Monsoon winds by technology, to engine powered ships that sail all seasons all directions. We cannot realize the dream of African-mind powered economies if we simply replace rains for donors. Our African leaders look at  the horizon and see "aid clouds" from China, European Union, U.S.A and the Arab world among others. In so doing, they ignore the power of promoting a culture of innovation and human ingenuity.   

 

Yes, China has knocked the African door in such a firm way, Africans must respond with a well thought out tact. We must move Africa from "rain powered" economies to knowledge powered economies! Africans need not fear China. They should simply engage it using lessons drawn from old allies: Europe and the United States of America.  

 

By James Shikwati.

 

James Shikwati james@irenkenya.org is Director of Inter Region Economic Network