Friday, June 27, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
JX Paulin is investing in African technology. Africa, the next decade’s China?
In 2009 the Chinese government granted "a
special loan for small and medium-sized African businesses” that included $1,200
million to support the growth of “agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry,
fishing, processing and manufacturing, trade and logistics, and other
industries closely associated with people's livelihoods in Africa,” according to
the China government’s publication.
JX Paulin : Africa has development potential and investment appeal
In 2012 Beijing hosted the 5th Forum of the
Sino-African Cooperation (FSCA). Through this event, China unveiled the
creation of a “special plan for business with Africa.” One of the most
significant commitments was an investment in sixty-one projects throughout
Africa involving up to $2,500 million US.
As of today, China has already signed over thirty
agreements with various African countries to open the door for mutual
investment. More than 2,200 Chinese companies have initiated activity
throughout the continent, whether in the sectors of agriculture, manufacturing,
or extraction of natural resources. Some service firms have also opened
branches in finance, real estate, and commercial banking. Chinese money has
been flowing into Africa for the past few years. In 2009, China’s direct
investment in Africa was reportedly $1.44 billion US; this amount underwent a steady
growth of 20.5 percent per year until 2012 when it reached $2.52 billion US
(according to Beijing’s whitepaper). “The rapid growth of China's direct
investment in Africa is indicative of Africa's development potential and
investment appeal, and it also points to the mutually beneficial nature of
China-Africa cooperation.”
Suspicion toward Chinese investment in
Africa is common in Western countries. They often assume that companies from
the Middle Kingdom are only after natural resources and bring little growth and
few technologies. However, Beijing emphasizes the positive impact of Chinese
money in Africa to help develop local economies, promote political stability
and, most importantly, create a significant rise in the standard of living.
Both points are understandable; however, my goal in this article is not to
judge who is right and who is wrong, but rather to discuss how profitable these
new investments are for Africans. Most importantly, I want to discuss Africa’s
ability to benefit from these investments and exploit them to generate lasting
growth.
Beijing puts it this way: “While seeking to advance its own development, China
tries to offer what assistance it can to Africa without setting any political
conditions and to benefit African people through developmental advances.” I
believe the whole thing about politics is subject to doubt; nevertheless, it
should be widely accepted that African growth has much to gain from Chinese
investment. This is mainly true because the richer Africa gets, the bigger the market
becomes to which China can export. I think this is why we see so many companies
operating in different fields and not only in the exploitation of natural
resources and manufacturing. Yet a big question remains unanswered: Can Africa
turn those investments to its benefit? This is a crucial matter because it
relates to an even more important question: Is Africa going to emerge? Or is it
going to remain crippled by wars, stricken by poverty, and diminished by
diseases?
JX Paulin : Why I have created MYSIMAX ?
My experience as an entrepreneur leads me
to believe that Africa has the ability to rise thanks to these new investments.
I am aware that many years of unreliability, poverty, and slow development may
induce a justified questioning of Africa’s capability to fully seize this
opportunity. However, who would have bet a dime on China thirty years ago? As a
Franco-Togolese, I am adamant about doing my bit in the development of Africa
whether in the medical field, educational field, public administration, or
maybe in all of them by providing great technologies. This is actually why I
founded MYSIMAX , a start-up that designs touch-screen devices developed for the
African market.
Beyond this I have always seen Chinese
investments in Africa as symbolic. China was not much more developed than
Africa thirty years ago. And now the emerged country is helping the emerging
ones. Where are the Western countries?
I moved to Shanghai in 1994; initially my
intention was to travel and study Chinese medicine. This did not last long. I
discovered such an unlimited potential in this country and such an
entrepreneurial spirit that I soon figured that my call was to start a company
here in Shanghai. As I told my relatives about my decision to stay in China
permanently, many doubted my choice. “What are you doing in this poor country?!
There is no demand in China and you have plenty of it here! You are a fool!” Twenty
years later, I think I made the right decision. I have my own thriving company,
I am launching a new one, and my experience of Chinese markets is a great asset.
The point is today, in Africa, I can feel
the same dynamism and the same desire to be the next big thing that I
encountered in 1990s China. I went to the New York Forum Africa in Gabon last
year, and I was truly convinced by Africa’s ambition and passion about its
future. What I saw in Africa was a real entrepreneurial mindset, a true
dynamism. The potential for start-up creation in Africa is huge.
China has a part to play in it. In Kenya,
for instance, Chinese investments were crucial to the development of the area’s
digital economy. As of today, Kenya is at the forefront of mobile technologies
in Africa, along with Nigeria and South Africa.
I personally believe that this kind of
investment in Africa––as the Chinese do––is the key to leading the continent to
fast growth of the sort seen in China twenty years ago, even if some people
think Africa cannot do it. I met this kind of person when I moved to China,
telling me I was crazy. Finally, I can assume I was not.
JX
Paulin
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
News in China : April 2014
Six people
were hurt, on Tuesday, May 6th, during an attack with a bladed weapon in a
station of Canton, in the South of China, announced the police. At about 11:30
am, aggressors armed with knives took themselves to passengers at the main
station of the metropolis, indicated the officeof the law and order. Law
enforcement intervened "quickly" and opened the fire, touching one of
the aggressors, he pursued. Six wounded persons were hospitalized.
Terrible news in China
with the new attack against civil
According
to the Daily paper of the People, the organ of the communist Party, the
aggressors, four men wearing headgears of white color, ignored the warnings of
the policemen, which then fired. The police shot down one of the aggressors
whereas another one is runaway. This attack happened less than a week after an
attack with knife and explosive in front of a station of Urumqi, a capital of
the western region of the Xinjiang, in which two aggressors and a civilian
died, and which made 79 wounded persons. It was attributed by the authorities
to «religious extremists " of Xinjiang.
The Chinese
authorities will launch special operations to fight against the terrorism,
declared on Tuesday in Beijing a senior official.
News in China : government
wants to fight terrorism
Departments
in charge of the law enforcement will operate in a complete way capacities adopted
by the management of the country regarding fight against terrorism, declared
Meng Jianzhu, leader of the Committee of the political and legal affairs of the
Central committee of the Chinese communist Party, during a meeting of the
persons in charge of the judicial departments and those in charge of the law
enforcement.
Three
people were killed, and 79 other wounded persons following an attack led on
April 30th in a station of Urumqi, a capital of the Uighur autonomous region of
the Xinjiang (northwest). On March 1st, aggressors had made 29 deaths and 143
wounded persons in a station of Kunming, in a province of the Yunnan (southwest).
These two incidents were identified as being terrorist attacks.
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