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10.10.2016 Feature Article

China Astounds The World Again!

China Astounds The World Again!
10.10.2016 LISTEN

Somewhere in the archives of the Daily Graphic of the years 1974-75, an article of mine has been turning yellow with age.

In a column I wrote for the paper at that time, I advised the Government of the day – the National Redemption Council of General Kutu Acheampong – that the Chinese were about to complete work on the “Tazara” Railway line they were constructing to connect landlocked Zambia with Tanzania.

"They've buit a railway line over 1,160 miles long; across territory that is very rugged”, I wrote. “They will have to spend a lot of money carting the machinery they used back to China when the construction is completed. So were you to approach them now and ask them to bring the equipment here to build a raiilway system for us between Accra and Bawku, they might consider the idea.The fact that they've equipment in Africa already would be a strong point in your favour. For it would save them a lot of money. And we know they can do it – Accra to Bawku will only need a line that's 361 miles long – only about a quarter of the distance covered by the Tazara Railway”

I took the precaution of warning the Secretary to the Ghana Cabinet to watch out for the article. But Nothing came of it.

When I think of it, it makes me very cross. Imagine cutting the travel time from Accra to Tamale to about two or three hours and being able to continue in comfort to places like Wa, Bolgatanga, Navrongo and Bawku!

Imagine the amount of cattle, goats and sheep, as well as yam, millet and other food-stuffs that could be transported all along the length of the railway and how that would reduce the cost of living for our urban dwellers. And also imagine that traders could have access to Tema from the North in a matter of hours!

Think how Burkina Faso, Niger and even Mali would have welcomed the possibility of avoiding the crowded ports of the ivory Coast when it came to importing and exporting the goods people need for consumption and industry. And add to that, the money Ghana would have made in all sorts of ways by thus opening up avenues of trade for her neighbours.

Now please remember that my article was written over forty years ago! Even if we merely made a net gain of 15 million dollars a year from the railway to the North we would have bagged about $500m from it by now. Which would have paid for the project thrice over at least (the Tazara Railway, which was over three times as long, cost only $540 million).

The reason why this issue has come back to torment my mind is that the Chinese have just done it again – on 5 October 2016, they launched a 460-mile electric railway line which will link Addis Ababa (Ethiopia's capital) with the Red Sea port-city of Djibouti. The new railway will provide a major boost to the economies of both countries.

The Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, and his counterpart from Djibouti, Ismael Omar Guelleh, were welcomed to the launch by uniformed Chinese personnel who will be operating the trains under a management contract until their local counterparts have been trained.

“This train will speed up the development of our country’s manufacturing industry and it will provide huge benefits to the industrial parks and modern farms that will be built in the future. It will give employment opportunities for our citizens,” Mr Desalegn said at the inauguration ceremony.

While coffee production remains Ethiopia’s biggest earner and agriculture its main employer, the country is working on diversifying exports by placing a greater emphasis on its manufacturing industry.

A report in the London Guardian said: “The new railway will take products between Ethiopia and Djibouti in about 10 hours, a far cry from the current excruciating multi-day trip along a congested, pot-holed road.“

An Ethiopian importer was quoted by the paper as saying: “We’re so excited! It takes two or three days for a truck to come from Djibouti. The train could make a huge difference.”

The importer was not exaggerating: about 1,500 trucks a day currently lumber along the road, which carries 90% of imports and exports from landlocked Ethiopia to the port of Djibouti. The port-city is a key trade hub to Asia, Europe and the rest of Africa.

“This train is a game-changer,” said Mr Mekonnen Getachew, project manager of the Ethiopian Railways Corporation. “Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. The connection to the port of Djibouti will give a bounce and our economy will grow faster.” he added.

The railway was built by two Chinese companies at a cost of w $3.4bn. 70% of the finance came from China’s Exim Bank. It is the first step in a 3,300-mle long network of rail which Ethiopia hopes to build by 2020, connecting it to Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan.

As a Ghanaian, I cannot help feeling very upset that while China is so efficiently assisting the countries of East Africa, in Ghana we are forced to look askance at what Chinese illegal miners are doing, in collaboration with unpatriotic and criminal Ghanaians, to our water-bodies.

Yes, the majority of the galamsey operators may be Ghanaians, but the equipment they use is mostly brought in from China. How could a big river like Birem, or Oti, or Prah, or Offin, or Ankobrah, be dredged and turned to mud without the machinery that comes from China? Any galamsey operator who attempted to dredge such rivers with a pick-axe, hoe and spade, would drown immediately.

The Chinese embassy in Accra must know the whole story of the toh-toh-toh machines imported from China and the woeful damage they have wrought on Ghana's water-bodies. I again implore Her Excellency the

Ambassador, Madam Sun Baohong, to use her good offices to end Chinese participation in the galamsey enterprise in Ghana once and for all.

Yes, I am ashamed to admit that it is the Ghana Government's responsibility to eliminate the evil galamsey “industry”. But it has woefully failed to live up to its responsibilities and in its incomprehensible negligence, created a bad name for China in Ghana.

So I am afraid the good work that has been done in Ghana by excellent diplomats, such as Madam Sun Baohong herself and her illustrious first predecessor, His Excellency Ambassador Huan Hua, (who later became China's Foreign Minister) will come to naught in the eyes of the grand-children of the present largely useless generation of Ghanaian “rulers”.

For who can forgive those who destroyed their water – the source of all life?

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