As a Kenyan, I can confirm that things have changed for the better since Chinese introduced the gauge railway between Mombasa and Nairobi. I now wish that Chinese could expand the current SGR railway between to other areas beyond Nairobi into Kampala Uganda and Kigali Rwanda.
Economic colonialism, the contracts basically indenture you to the chinese communist party, especially if you default on the money you now own them, they own you
Everyone Ganster till they enslave African economies in the ‘Debt trap’ tactic. Enjoy the short term prosperity I guess and remember China does not have your best interest at heart hence the bugging of the African Union building………………
@@quillo2747 The alternative is no project at all. No western countries would ever try to build infrastructures with that kind of financial risk. So you can choose China or keep living in the jungle. There is no other solution.
"The line doesn't bring in enough to pay the $70m operating cost" - countries really need to get over this idea that the railway itself needs to be profitable... the railway ENABLES profitability in other businesses, through movement of people and goods. Yes, the government has to put in $30m of funding each year, but if they are getting more than an extra $30m of taxes due to the extra economic activity, that's worthwhile.
True if railroad is financed by the country itself but if it financed by a foreign country like China it’s important that the revenue and taxes from increased economic activity are able to cover the loan payments. Otherwise it’s a debt trap.
Exactly, public infrastructure should be cost driven. I love how people that think it should be profit driven are probably the same people that end up complaining health care is too expensive after health care is privatized
@@blainegabbertgabonemhofgoa6602 Precisely I honestly don't think it will end well, especially If the governments partaking in this are using the opportunity to have their natives learn the more technical skills necessary. Eventually they'll be at the mercy of the Chinese, if they are overly dependent on them. But whose to say really...
The Laos railway will open in December 2021, the trains have just been delivered. This will be a fantastic boost to Laos, a country that never had a railway before but the construction faced challenges due to mountains and unexploded ammunition from USA in Vietnam war.
@@zaxisontherun in Malaysia they only build trains, they’ve built a 350 km/h high speed rail line in Indonesia that will open in 2022 being the worlds fastest tied with China, and China is building a Thailand high speed rail line to link Bangkok and Thai cities and eventually the Lao capital.
@@simonwhittaker6756 India is in the midst of constructing a 320 km/h high speed rail link from Mumbai to Ahmedabad and a possible extension to Navi and Pune and then Delhi. It’s a joint cooperation between Japan and Indian corporations however it’s plagued with delays and land acquisition is the main issue.
@@supernodream Yup. I saw a tweet with this quote from a Kenyan "every time China visits, we get a hospital, every time Britain visits we get a lecture."
Obviously, China isn't in the business of providing simple-charity, but I think a lot of people (particularly here in the West) fail to appreciate the enormous boost this infrastructure gives to developing regions. The debt-trap aspects are indeed disconcerting, but the economic development spurred by these projects will have an enormous impact on the nations' finances and ability to pay back loans. Africa is the fastest-developing region on Earth, and I think many underestimate just how much economic power and global influence African countries will soon have. Ultimately, someone had to be the one to bet on Africa's rise, and it just happens to be the world's largest economy (by purchasing-power) to do so. Americans resent China's soft-power over Africa, but we could have easily been the ones to develop these crucial diplomatic links with the developing countries of the world; instead, we've failed to even develop our own transportation infrastructure.
You put he headline at the end. The US has been so busy invading Islamic countries, it has completely ignored most internal infrastructure projects, including rail. Combined with massive racist viewpoints, it is no wonder we didn't help Africa with transportation solutions.
As someone from one of the countries with rail built by china (Kenya) There's advantages and downsides of it. But in my opinion the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The rail network is now controlled by Kenyans ,but we're still yet to pay off the loan
I can fully understand that you take China's helping hand, it would be dumb not to. I believe the west would be better partner, but unfortunately they don't really show much effort or interest. That way would be a great opportunity to strengthen and stabilize democracy in African countries.
Fun fact: Tanzania Zambia Railway was built by China in Mao era. Zero interest loan of 1 billion RMB when China was poor by themselves, plus 56k Chinese workers and experts. 69 of them were buried in Tanzania for the noble course.
Another fun fact: In the 80s the railway fell into disrepair and required over $200 million in foreign aid from Europe and the US to remain functional.
With the annual operating costs of $70m per year, the railway already covers that in 2021. It is a resounding success, especially considering all the positive benefits for the surrounding communities.
if you don't like it then don't take it, nobody is forcing, there's contract, it's all written, if you failed to pay what's gonna happen the railway gonna be owned by China, they agree to do this. it's like loaning money from bank, if you failed to pay it back then your home gonna get taken away by the bank, simple. what's so hard to understand? the west like to criticize on the debt trap, is it debt trap if it's known? bank loaning money is debt trap then? if you're so worried why don't you provide better alternative to the countries in Africa? offers better project? why can't you? if what China offers is not good enough then what should we say about the offers from countries in the west? IMF interest for the loan is higher than what China offers but you rarely hear anything about it.
It's actually even more hypocritical if you think about it. UK and USA media seem to have a lot of anti-China stuff, some of it based on the sort of stuff this video talks about. They say it's "dangerous" for African countries to "do business with China". I'm sure China is probably pretty ruthless with these contracts and they are written in such a way that the majority of the "benefit" will end up swinging China's way one way or another. But Jesus H, UK and USA doing the talking about that!? Can they spell "hypocrisy"!?!? At least China is giving these poor countries a chance to play ball! China's method is DEFINITELY more constructive and less deadly than the regime change operations that the UK and USA often do when they want something a poorer country has...
@@ZIGZAG12345 USA invests more into Africa every year than China, but literally nobody gives a shit because its not fancy infrastructure projects. American investments in Africa have a much higher rate of continued success, as in they actually build wealth in the region. Also, Western nations would never be allowed to undertake projects like this because everyone would cry out about colonialism if they had the same contractual agreements that China has (namely taking control of key infrastructure in a country).
In 2002 when Kenya first adopted the look east policy, kenyas economy was just under $12b dollars, grown by only $2b by from 1964, on the back of Chinese infrastructure projects and investment , after meaningless 50 year engagement with western trading partners, now over 20 years later, the Kenyan economy is $106b, in the next 30, 1trillion dollars by estimate, GDP per capita has quadripled, 15 million pulled out of poverty, country transitioned from low income To middle income, HDI grown from 0.4 low to 0.6 medum. In 20 years, electricity connections from under 10% to 85%. Kenya now leads the world in mobile money technology, geothermal energy, and East africa remains among the world fastest growing region. The average Kenyan doesn’t care whether the railway comes from China or America whatever, but people are happy their kids aren’t dying due to lack of hospitals, that they now have power, can take an engineering or artificial intelligence course in newly built universities in their hometown like anywhere in the world. Be blind if you want to, but the only way western countries can beat China in Africa is by outinvesting it.
@@m4x927 If the U.S. desires to focus it's efforts on building it's own infrastructure rather than offering bidding for contracts in Africa, then that is perfectly understandable. So long as the U.S. recognises that it will lose influence to China in making that decision. I'm not recommending one decision or the other, it's simply a trade, a decision for the U.S. to make, with perfectly reasonable justifications both ways.
The Kenyan economy actually doubled between the time of adopting multiparty democracy and its look east policy. You'll find that its experienced the same rate of growth in the 2 decades since. Its debt:gdp has also dramatically worsened in that time, suggesting that more of the growth since the look east policy has been fueled by debt and government spending. Also, Kenya's gdp in 1964 was under 1 billion, compared to 13.15 billion in 2002. That's 7% gdp growth per year, including 25 years of autocratic rule. In the interim period (post-drought) of Kenya adopting democracy and not "looking East" their growth rate was 9.62% per year. In the time since the growth rate has been 11.86%. The outlook you give of Kenya before their look East policy and after their look East policy is just not accurate. Yes, growth has been faster, but its always been fast. Had Kenya continued to grow at its previous rate prior to Look East, the difference in GDP would be tangible for sure (70%). But debt to gdp in the past 5 years has grown from 45% to ~70% That is, over 40 billion dollars of new debt was taken up in 5 years. 8 billion a year, while the economy has grown less than 7 billion a year. This is the definition of unsustainable debt-fueled economic growth. Imagine if you started to take out loans greater than your raises every year. Yes you would live well much better than you otherwise could have for the time being, but what happens when those loans come due?
Kenya's economy, as the gateway to East and Central Africa was barely growing before China. Once Kenya welcomed China, all other EAC members have been attracting both Asian and white investors. Kenya is not "relying solely" on China for development as you've out it. Both Britain and America have heavy investments in Kenya from finance to military. The French are also getting good deals in Kenya (Nairobi Railway City & Nakuru - Mau Summit highway). I wonder why the skepticism when it comes to China. A win for Kenya & Ethiopia is a win for everyone in Eastern Africa and even western Europe.
@sweet heart Britain literally owns Kenya. Their biggest military training camp outside UK is in Kenya. Lots of British farmers. They're in telecommunication and banking. America is mostly in defense.
Hats off to China for actually developing Africa, when the European and US colonialists forced far harsh loans but they didn’t didn’t actually develop the country (and in many senses tried to prohibit development) but just guaranteed trade routes to extract profit, and interfering with politics. China have a policy of trying to avoid political interference, and on top of that they are actually making Africa gradually more advanced which will benefit the public.
@@breakout5205 EXTREMELY different, the West caused Africa to be what Africa is. Western colonialism is the worst acts ever commited in the history of humanity, they literally genocided SEVERAL Whole Continents, SEVERAL.. China on the other hand thinks of mutual business because theyre intelligent enough and not prejudiced enough to know.... that Africa will have majority of the worlds people in the future, very long term strategy
Solute to my African brother with higher intelligence than Trever N! It's a win and win situation for China and Africa to cooperate with each other instead of divided. West has been doing the best trying to come between Africa and China. Some Snow Queens who pretend to be African have the same mentality as Europeans! So watch out and use your own brain and see in your own eyes!
@@breakout5205 Because it was a freaking colony? The British built infrastructure with the soul purpose of extracting resources from the continent, that means they generally went routes that went from inland to the coast, it didnt connect major population centers or interconnect people and local industries. This is like saying "how come the Nazis were so bad to jews in the early 1930s, I mean they built them the autobahn and provided everyone in Germany jobs right?" Like are you some kind of tool? A moron?
Some people would rather sell weapons to our military dictatorships than help us finance roads, rail hospitals and houses. When someone else decided to help they make a fuss about it. SMH As long as they take adequate loans and face critical projects that can help develop the economies of the various countries even faster then I'm sure they'll be able to pay back.
Why is China building Africa's railways? Because China knows, if they want to hold onto their global power, investing in Developing countries is a lot more affective than bombing them. China's been around for around 2000 years, the US has been around about 200 years. China will also be around long after we have fallen.
Just another debt trap, when these countries default ion the loans, which they always do, China takes possession of whatever it constructed, PLUS who knows what else????
@@chrisblue46 simply put China takes over possession of that particular thing it constructed till it recovers the debt immediately debt is recovered ownership reverts to the host nation. China cannot take anything else it didn't build
@@chrisblue46 Completely false, US imperialist propaganda. You're just jealous because China is investing instead of dropping bombs like we do, and they're winning.
@@shikharsharma1523 like my daughter was born in a chinese built hospital, the road i live on got tarmaced and electric lights... ive seen the impact they have had on our economy and its more than i ever thought we would get
@@courageousteen1734 It's not a bad thing, they're probably just an American who is brainwashed by anti China/Russia propaganda. As others have rightly stated, the benefits of these infrastructure projects far outweigh the debt that comes with it.
In Nigeria, we are having China construct many railways to connect all part of the country. They also have to hire Nigerians, so there can be skill transfer. We are also reviving our steel plant which is the largest in Africa but have not been functioning to it full capacity due to government neglect. I don’t like when people associate China and African countries relationship as colonialism because if anybody understand colonialism they will see how different things are going. Everybody wants to work with Africa because they are trying to maintain good relationship and tap into the market due to emerging middle class and young population, so Africans can dictate who they want to work with and without.
Its a different kind of colonialism. This is colonialism using economics and contracts. Nigeria now owes billions to China, that gives China influence over them geopolitically. If you default on the debt you owe, China will sieze all of the assets in your country. It is colonialism, its just done with economics instead of troops. This is China building an empire by buying nations instead of invading them, the result is the same. China now owns you
@@quillo2747 Yep, they will completely control Africa within a decade through trade deals, land annexation and loan based projects, including importing tens of thousands of their own workers who also come with security forces, mark my words. People forget Africa is full of mineral wealth and resources.
Many people have stated it clearly, for any infostructure project, if you just look at it alone, highly likely it is loosing money. However, you need to consider them as a public good which can bring other business. You need to think about the big picture rather than the bill in front of your eyes. Besides, China has done knowledge transfers to the locals as well by training local engineers and stuffs to operate, maintain, and build this kind of railway. It is a huge intangible asset.
Is that why your railroad to the bantustans of China are losing millions and millions of yuan every day? (Well, at least the ones that haven't fallen down already because of faulty construction). That a big reason why China's economy is tanmking is because of these idiotic infrastructure projects? You know, like the ghost cities and the river flow transfer project that is sinking under a flood?
If some countries can devote 1% of the energy from blaming China everyday to think about how to help African countries and implement them, I think Africa could develop much faster.
In reality, those same anti-Chinese people are thinking of how to slow down everyone else like Africa and China. Aid is not meant to help nations like Africa, it’s a tool to keep them in need while providing the bare minimum. That’s what’s been going on in Africa for decades
Sovereign countries have to help themselves first mate. Make no mistake China plays the long term game and is building its own sphere of control just like every strong realm has done in the history of mankind.
@@dblezi Nice justification for the EXTREME EVILS that the West not only has (as the entire world knows), but CONTINUES to do to Africa, just to sustain its fragile unjust colonial identities
Sometimes, big projects that don't bear fruit immediately can be the catalyst for greater growth. This is probably one of them; Africa has always needed infrastructure but no one wanted to commit the resources and technology because they cannot overcome the chasm of unpredictable returns. China took that risk and hopefully, it will pay off for all.
also china understands things many westernern countries forgot, peace bears more fruit than oppression and anarchy. Many times african leaders were assasinated and whole countries ruined by coups or heavy sanctions by the west. china knows that when you invest in people it gives them prosperity while entitiling you to some of those fruits. They are still in it for benefits but are playing the long game that westerners generations ago used to play. places like libya are annihilated for no reason and only cause problems for them and their neighbors, china is smart by gaining debt on these rising nations instead to get cash and protecting their investments.
@@NarutoUzumaki-xd4db The port isn't profitable yet so Sri Lanka and China agreed on an alternative solution that Sri Lanka will not need to pay the loan directly, while China will collect cash flow from the port for 99 years. Still, Sri Lanka got a port to use instead of nothing. What's the problem here?
@@NarutoUzumaki-xd4db by the way is hambantota is such disaster why is India doing the same as china now? Loaning sri Lanka and taking one port in lease for a specified amount of years...isnt it hypocritical of you to call out china when India is doing the same now following chinas path?
For land transport of goods - railway is the best. For water transport of goods - ships are the best. For long transport of people - planes are the best. For short transport of people - railway or maglev is the best. What I just said is facts.
Good that your country hasn't done it, it's only going to be a debt trap, and the rail would eventually close down. Due to the lack of money, to pay the Chinese for further maintainence.
@@RexKo Be more open minded and progressive, lots of people even chinese doubted the high speed railway, let alone the regular railway, when it was first introduced around 2008 -2010, check out what is happening right now, check out the public view on the HSR. Boom, china has a largest HSR network in the world, public is absolutely super supportive of the modern age HSR. If you are aware of the story that during the planning of certain HSR alignment in central China, two counties fiercely lobbied against each other in hope of getting one HSR station build in their county, so that all the money and logistic will flow towards them. If you can not see the economics and the logics behind this, I don't blame you. You just have to see more how the world is running and how the society and civilization is evolving. Don't ever staying in your comfort zone any more. You shoudl go to china and see how the HSR train is full and how it contributed to the cities development and people's wellfare.
It would be very awesome to have high speed railways here, both to passengers and to commerce. Most part of the Brazilian population lives near the coast, so one line covering it would be enough to serve the whole half of the population alone!
@@gemstonesparkle7915 I agree with you completely. I can see that just in Sao Paulo. It must be very exciting to see all major cities connected by HSR. Where you stay in brasil?
If China doesn't give them the loan who else will?....many are focusing on the negatives but there is lots of positives ... A lot was mentioned about previous colonial powers in this videos But nothing was said in depth about how they especially robbed and mined Africa to death and debt. At least Kenya is getting something in return
If no one wants to give you a loan, chances are it is better for you not to take one anyway because you can't afford it. These nations are now submerged by debts that they can't repay. Yeah, the new trains are nice, but if you can't pay for them they are just a burden.
@@Origami84 ok then great! why don't you also tell that to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that also gives these countries loans that they know they will never be able to repay?.... I know you did not mean to but every time I watch these China rail videos in Africa, it turns into a China bashing video .
@@cevapipapi8920 Yes you are right. The colonial powers first thought was extracting as much resources as possible in a fast and efficient way. Trust me they didn't think about about people first. It was just an indirect consequence of them building the railway, that in the end it also benefitted the people. First thought was still money.
These are not short-term gain projects. Massive infrastructure projects like these take decades to turn "profitable". China, typically, is not in it for the short-term. They invest in the long-term win-win situation for both parities.
It took decades for Chinese engineers to learn, train and develop the skills just to build rail and bridge infrastructures in China so as to maintain safety and durability. Therefore, Africans need the same learning curve to gain the skills, expertise, knowledge and experiences as they studied in Chinese universities before they could bring all these to Africa. It takes time and efforts. In order for Africa to develop faster, Chinese companies move their engineers and managers to Africa to help. Some Africans benefits from on-job training while top African engineers study in Chinese universities.
It's beautiful and hopeful to witness the birth of a new world order of collaborative development between "third worlds" after centuries of western stealing and colonialism. Now we see a flood of anti-China propaganda and it's very obvious why.
@@xinyiquan666 Yes! - the late 19th century was over a century after they were first built and used in Great Britain - so it did indeed take them decades (over a century..) to learn what was known in Europe.. Less blind patriotism perhaps? To quote what we can prove 'The first indigenous-designed and -constructed railway by Chinese was the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway built from 1905 to 1909'.. Do tell of what you're talking about though
@@xinyiquan666 The Europeans designed and developed railroad tech and trains. The Chinese merely copied them, which takes intelligence and dedication, but still not the creators or innovators.
"Top management positions are still dominated by Chinese staff." Isn't that the point? Making use of Chinese expertise to build high-standard railways in countries where resources may be harder to come by?
@@low-keymarz2684 I don't think you understand my comment. I am saying that there is an obvious reason behind having Chinese people in top management positions, because the projects and products are Chinese and to a Chinese standard. So, I'm not arguing against China at all in this discussion.
Is there a ridiculous idea that this is a debt trap? Let's face it! No one country can help another country free of charge, the Chinese way of doing business, unlike the west, the Chinese are sold you a "fishing rod" not free "fish" for you, because the fish will be finished, but if you learned how to fishing that is a win-win situation, business is business, don't want other people to help free, that is the real trap!
Except the Chinese are not teaching Africans anything. They literally give them loans to build infrastructure but with no real plan on how to maintain it or pay it back. That's why it's a debt trap.
Decades ago I discovered that Africa had minimal railways, primarily from mines to the coast. The lack of investment by the west limited this continent while others industrialized. China's brilliant geopolitical move will bring Africa into the wealth of industrialization.
Also I'd argue that it is not the lack of investment by the west that has kept africa poor. Take some time and look at the countries at war in Africa and you'd realize that they are the richest in terms of minerals/natural resources in the whole world. The west benefits from keeping africa at war and in poverty
The reasoning is extremely simple. If countries/organisations can offer loans that are not as "bad" as Chinese ones then obviously no one would prefer China's loans. So the obvious question is what stops people who lament about "Chinese takeover of Africa" to actually help Africa. The truth is for all their pseudo-concern they really don't care about Africa. The average Western citizen believes that it is African people that are the cause of their continent's banes and the Western Colonialism had a trivial part to play if not outright denying the evils of Colonialism. The governments of the West have their own geopolitical and economic interests in keeping Africa poor. China for one sees an opportunity in Africa unlike the West. It creates necessary infrastructure that will boost the local economies unlike West that is solely interested on only looting the continent. As for those who argue about debt traps, don't you really know how IMF and WB loans work? Moreover China doesn't interfere too much in the political status quo of the nations it engages with. Unlike the IMF, WB loans or even the famed "Western aid/philanthropy" that many of you wax eloquent about? Much of this aid is made sure to work back into the pockets of the West and its lackeys in the target nations and have their own conditions that target nations must meet. How many of you know that World Bank actively discourages projects that seeks to rehabilitate slum dwellers in their actual locations itself (which usually happen to be in prime locations of the city) and instead prefer to dump them outside the cities, ironic given that many people who stay in slums are those actively involved in occupations inside the city? But yeah it is the Chinese loans alone that harbour insidious intent, right?
For these kind of infrastructure projects, you can't expect to break even in a short period of time. You need to take a long term view. Western countries often don't understand that
@@ezioauditore5616 ???? Europe has an enormous High speed railway network and whilst the USA doesnt use railways as much it has the worlds largest highway network. This very channel has multiple videos on European infrastructure projects.
Or, perhaps they do understand it, and they understand that a system like this only makes sense if you have the industrial base to build and maintain it and the consumer demand for the transportation to actually make the project financially viable and sustainable in the long term. This is a power grab by China. It's taking on a bad investment in the hopes that future growth may make it worthwhile and it'll be in control at that point. Western countries didn't do it because they didn't bet on the future growth being robust enough. At least according to this data presented, it seems they were right. So, now, how long will China keep pouring money into this project in hopes of a ROI? Probably as long as the West keeps up the massive negative trade deficits and self-destructive economic policies that are destroying their own productivity and transferring trillions in wealth to China.
People outside can say Debt trap , Extracting resources etc . But in a situation when no other foreign entities willing to bet except China then it’s too tempting for a country to reject it.
If Poison looks tempting so what? Bro, I think African countries should build things on their own, make it profitable & use revenue for further development. The West isn't spending money because they studied it & know it's not feasible projects leave profitable. China giving money knowing they can't pay Back, because it is debt trap. Building things their own or with grant in aid is the only way forward.
@@Edward4Plantagenet yes we all think Africa should build its own infrastructure but who will fund it, who will give then technical know how. China is no saint... Of course it us looking for its own development but one thing I think is china is better than West. At least china is taking the risk to invest in a country where no one else is willing. And now even india us following same policy.. We have also loaned to srilanka and leased one of its ports. I know no matter what anyone says... Later everyone will follow same strategy.
@@Edward4Plantagenet lol, “building things from their own”. Did ores turns into metal by a single clicks? Did metal turn into railroad with a click? Did railroad placed with recommendations on a God view point? Where do they buy these rails road, cement, station equipment, electronic grid? Do you even know how poor is Africa? You really think a live long farmer could suddenly goes into a field start pounding railroad and mixing cement ?
@@vee2easy Problem is lack of experience, infrastructure or financial in the first place. Not to mention the bureaucratic deficiency to start a long term project to start from the ground up.
SGR in Kenya has brought with it the kind of development which may have taken more than ten years to be realized. The project is good in itself.The road networks are also good and will help enhance development The railway should have extended to Kisumu Nairobi Mombasa expressway was to be done by an American company
I think if Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Angola, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are thoroughly link with each other by China standard gauge, it will be a game changer and the railways will bring lot of development to a number of sectors. I'm just wondering which will be the first sub-Saharan country that will have a HSR in its territory.
If this links really happened. I guess these Africa countries you mentioned together will be the next fastest economy growth in the world as like China from 80s to present.
$40m revenue vs $70m cost in the first year, I'd say within 5-10 years this project is totally sustainable according to our experience in China. 10 years ago there are huge debates within China about whether high speed railway can turn a profit ever. Now there are more and more profitable tracks, some of them even make big money. You can almost never make money in the early years of an infrastructure project, waiting longer will only cause rising cost in the future, thus making the project even financially impossible. And never forget as infrastructure, most of its benefits is beyond its own financial statement. The time saved by passengers, jobs created, real estates developed due to connectivity, as well as lower transportation cost of trade goods. In fact these benefits are far larger than its own profit.
Btw.. train and road systems need not necessary be for profit only? GOVERNMENT responsibility to provide such basic needs to its population,,the people of the nation STATE including those living in that region, between neighbours NATIONS.!
However the amount of profitable tracks in China is completely outweighed in comparison to how many are operating at a loss. Overall China''s railways are in massive dept, see the channel "China insights" for more information. Had they made they dual use so they could also be used for industrial transport as well then things may have worked out differently, who knows.
@@lucaszhang2359 I can see why you think that. However you have a simple alternative that backs up the claim- you can check the Chinese governments official financial numbers which is what the channel used for their report.
I have watched a few such videos. The focus is always on operating losses. It's obviously a wrong way to measure success. Connectivity brings business activities which generate additional tax income for the government, create jobs for the locals and many other benefits. On top of that the social aspect is often forgotten. With high speed train network, people enjoy shorter travel time and good explorations in the region. In short, citizens become happier. It's priceless.
Investment in Africa is a long term investment and gain. They are more than animal parks for tourists. By building and helping to build infrastructure that links the different parts together and to the rest of the world, you establish friendships between countries and trade links that will improve both societies. I say in 40 years, Africa will turn it's back on Europe and the West and look towards the East for trade partners and the West will be left wondering why and how did this happen.
@@tompeled6193 wow you really do hate seeing others developing themselves. Well i doubt any western countries are willing to make any investment especially for the US which lacks railroad in its own territories.
you do know how colonialism spread in many cases in the 19th century right? A country would finance a railroad to be built, or factories to be built in a target country. Then it would fail to turn a profit (often by design) and the country would take ownership of that critical piece of infrastructure, and set up military bases along its length or at key checkpoints. They would then press the locals to work in their factories, or charge exorbitant prices for infrastructure which they made necessary for them. Once the locals get pissed off enough and kill a couple foreigners then the imperial country steps in to protect its citizens. That's literally the imperialist playbook.
@@AbeYousef look at this guy, scared to death of Chinese rails. 😝 You forgot to mention the OTHER critical infrastructure that China is building all over Africa that’s been sorely needed for decades like basic things like roads, schools, water treatment centers, drilling water wells, hospitals, coal plants, dams….. I mean I could go on but if you still think that’s colonialism then you sir are a genius 👌
Also, in case you really don’t know. what the west did was build things called extraction corridors, meaning roads and basic facilities along certain routes to and from the extraction sites to the ports to ship the raw materials off and out of Africa. Things like rubber (don’t have to tell you the horrendous stories of slavery done by the belgiums in the Congo to get that), and other raw materials
Western countries should stop viewing everything through geopolitical lenses. If you dont like China’s projects, why don’t start your own in African? Set up a model project completely run by African, from top management to manual labors, and turning profit every year. Show the world how it should be done. Let Africans be the final judges!
@@jr-wv4qw this is sort of a chicken and egg situation. If these countries were developed (e.g. via infrastructure), people would have more economic opportunities, which can help to stabilize them. Without any development, people remain feeling hopeless about their situation, making crime and fraud look much more attractive.
@@benjaminw.1471 Amazing how this only gets trotted out in the context of Africa and South America. Meanwhile countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East all were able to modernize without falling to pieces, even considering colonial pressures.
they are just good at talking. They have been rich for generations, and had every chance to show the world. They didn't. And now when China is showing the way, they get all jealous.
As an American, I wish we would join the Belt and Road Initiative. To say we need it is an understatement. We need help with our infrastructure and job programs, but my country is run by Cold War psychopaths.
It will not happen. The mentality is to keep under-developed / developing non-western countries as is so we can print money without doing anything. It is slow self-destructing motion.
@@36G for real 😭 US and China working together would make the whole world a more stable place. They gotta stop their trade wars shaking up the global economy
This kind of projects will take years before it reaches the return of investment. I hope this new infra will bring economic growth and stability to the nation.
IKR. Line opened in 2018, it failed to make a profit in 2019, no shit? Even the advanced british businesses and government needed more than a year to transition from being an EU member to not. Imagine how long it would take for Ethiopian businesses to learn to exploit the new railway.
I always thought it was meant to boost 100x more the emptying of the continent's ivory, pangolin-skin, rhino horn, timber. 30.000 elephants a year are now killed for their ivory. The pangolin population is almost extinct..!!
It will. One factor that has made stable states in Africa incredibly difficult is how expensive strategic mobility can be; it is difficult to control an area that a man cannot traverse. Thus, even if one had the strength to dominate their state, they could not e.ploy it when and where it is needed.
Viewing public infrastructure through the lens of a vacuum on whether the project itself will have a positive ROI is typical short term Western thinking. China is running a huge "loss" on its national high speed rail project but its economy exploded after the project enabled its people to move about much more freely.
For people constantly saying it's a debt trap, you have to know China's own railway network is also not really benefiting. China built the railways because it increases stability, decreases unemployment and enhances economic ties along the regions that rail crosses. Infrastructures are used to increase a country's soft power instead of waiting for them to print money.
@Jordie Good perspective and that's also the reason why the USA doesn't have even 1 single high speed rail(the current construction will take 5 more years).
. In China they have some ghost-towns = some investors didnt get their paybacj. In the west we have many ghost-appartment = appartments bought only for investment, increasing the value of the property marked.
I read the reason China didn't industrialize in the 19th century was they didn't invest in railroads to coal formations in western China. Sounds like railroads to central Africa will help development, not only in the countries with coastlines, but eventually those that are land-locked.
Yep. Meanwhile most Western railways are only envisioned in terms of short term profitability. And the "debt trap" claims are mostly US propaganda. Studies from the Lowy Institute in Australia found most of the times the Chinese actually extended or negotiated loans.
I just can't see Alstom or Seimens building this , especially for 3.5 billion. If anything Kenya would be in debt $25 billion , that'd why China fits nicely in this picture
It's hard to compare costs between countries, but Denmark has just completed a double-track high-speed railway (250 km/h) at $30 million/km. The Mombasa-Nairobi Line is single-track, design speed 120 km/h. Cost: $6.2 million/km. So there definitely a difference in cost, but also in specifications, and in location, of course.
Siemens is building a high speed line in Egypt, and Morocco has a French-built TGV line. The Chinese are far from the only ones building railways in Africa.
@ψ... Lord ΛΙhαιτhαm...ψ May be you don't know about Chinese and African governments deal of Raw material. Aftica is a rich continent. It's resources have been exploited by west for over a century.
I wouldn't worry about the railway standards being chinese, on the contrary, I think that its better that a continent as a whole has one single standard than multiple ones since that allows a complete and connected network to be linked up in the future. Its easier for an american or european (or even african) railway manufacturer to build trains with chinese standards than it is to build a train that can run on multiple standards. Only the future will tell how things will turn out for the countries who participate in the B&R program, as a european I can only say that I'm glad that it is not our responsibility.
@@benrodir2 I, like you, think Africa shouldn't progress beyond the 19th century and it's no one else's problem that they're too incompetent and useless to fix the mess that the West left after their adventures there (I mean, come on, colonialism wasn't even that bad ffs, woke justice warriors on the prowl again). Fuck China and fuck Africa. Only the West is allowed nice things. Big /s in case the flags weren't obvious enough.
@@benrodir2 I think most of these leaders who sign on to these “debt traps” aren’t stupid. They know the consequences, but infrastructure is so badly needed they’re willing to sign themselves over to china, as long as it keeps investing in them. The west should invest more in Africa so there is a more safe alternative, but instead they just sit on their beds and complain
One interesting point though, when Kenya issues Eurobonds, which are often oversubscribed, it's been hard to get by comments such as debt trap and etc. On the other hand, taking a loan from China, which will be repaid obviously, attracts all manner of comments and epithets. It just seems like some people are still daydreaming about the colonial days. Kenya is an independent country and welcomes every good idea available out there but I guess no one can swallow humiliation and insults of the yesteryears in this century.
@@asdf3568 True. I hear plenty of people still defending the US colonization of the native americans. I bet these same people would also criticize China for building infrastructure in Africa.
@Zaydan Naufal The history in China is a slightly different from that in other formerly-colonized countries. China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society 100 years ago. The Westerners did not take full control over China. The Qing Dynasty still held strong (though diminishing) and independent (to some extent) rule over China before overthrown. Afterwards, the local warlords still had control over part of China. The "semi-" is a relative term that refers to the fact above. China was destroyed not solely by Western colonists, but also by domestic emperors and bureaucrats.
But 99% Redditors tell me that such are China's debt trap. Redditors really care about African people's well-being despite that they don't care about the victims under Wars waged by the West in the last many decades. Strange!
When Malaysia was developing its manufacturing sectors in 80s & 90s, all the American factories in Malaysia from CEO down to managers level are American expatriates! I am shocked when that comment is made about China.
Not gonna comment on Chinese investments. However I've always found it weird that Americans (only? Or even Europeans), just made up a word called expatriates, Because obviously they cant be immigrants! Oh the humanity!
why always need to pick something of a normal business trade and turn in to negative, like" repair parts have to come from China" . its like saying China buying Airbus its a problem,, because repair parts has to come from Europe ! so don't buy Airbus ?
Right!? I tought I was the only one that caught that. Like wtf do you expect? 🤣🤣 US holds most chip making patents, ofcourse you have to rely on us licenses 🤣. It's the same thing!
then china is dumb enough to buy trillions of us debt bonds perhaps? it is real debt trap. but no western media advise china stop buying us debt bonds? 🤔 especially a country keep attacking china.
They need to invest in education more than a railway. It would be just another way for China to get richer and destroy the environment of of South American like they have destroyed their own.
It's a good idea but difficult. If a southern American country does what the US doesn't want it to do, it might very quickly find itself invaded by the largest, most powerful army in the world.
Thank you for your balanced and unbiased neutral opinions about these railway projects! Unbiased report about China is rarely seen these days from the mainstream media.
I think the move from China is very clever. If they can build huge infrastructure in Africa they would be able to massively increase their customer base. The more people who have money the more money people will spend. They will also be able to encourage a country which has huge amounts of untapped natural resources to milk the planet for all it's worth without being directly involved.
The real reason they're doing it is because they know the countries won't be able to pay back the loans and then they seize the infrastructure and claim it as theirs. They're doing this with ports too. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in this video.
"The line doesn't bring in enough to pay the $70m operating cost" Roads and Rails bring development to the towns along these roads and rails. It stimulates, grows and hasten the local economy. These are the intangibles that a profit driven guy from a capitalistic country will not understand. Using their western model where a project will not get built unless it'll give a profit in the first or early years, Africa will never ever have infrastructures built, will never ever develop. Maybe, this is what they want.
That's cute but if you can't pay its operating costs it will eventually fall apart. Local economic growth is a tangible thing, through taxation and under public administration it should eventually be self sustainable. Otherwise it was poorly designed and more of a debt trap kind of move :D
@@zarmeza Its infrastructures. Governments build infrastructures not to make profit but to serve the people. Governments have budgets for infrastructures. It is not about being cute. It is about building for the development and progress of the country. You're the one being cute. GOODBYE!
Tell me who is building the infrastructure Chinese workers and who is manufacturing locomotives Chinese so how will it stimulate your industry profitable don't means money it means if there is a need for example building a mall in a village Chinese build ghost cities because they know ghost cities will become booming city very quickly but what about you Africans if you are
@@rudrakumar5516 You don't have roads and rails, you don't have transportation, you don't have products, goods and other stuff going from the source to the consumer. You don't have transportation, you don't have people and business transactions from place to place. This is basic stuff! If you don't know, go educate yourself more before you deem yourself able to able to discuss with people.
@@rap3208 no it is not like africans should not get Chinese railways rather I want you people to have more africans and technology transfer remember they also have technology transfer from foreign countries.
@@manurr10 the time india will take to build few high speed rail is equal to the amount of time china took to build the largest network of high speed rail in the world
Because is true, North America is light years behind railroad infrastructure, we don't have high speed trains like Japan, China or Europe, and seems like we never going to see it
It looks like a much less evil version of British railway legacy throughout its former colonies where locals were used as slave workers to build railway tracks to far barren stretches of land to mine the gold, copper, iron reserves and minerals which were then shipped back to the mainland UK free of cost. In my country, one can still see the remnants of these abandoned tracks, bridges and tunnels which end up in the middle of nowhere. I'm glad we are past that dark era now.
There's no legacy from "former colonies". They built tracks from mines straight to ports. That's useless and helps nobody but the colonial homebase. THIS is actual infrastructure development
Yes!!! in Indian sub continet british did for 200years, in the name of "development"!!!!! but the real, hidden, motive was extracting rich natural resources ' free of cost' to their home land!!!😡😠😡😠😡😠that is why UK is rich instead of Indian sub continent,, UK's has most wealth includes brought from bleeding Indian subcontinet mainly, & other WIndian colonies!!!! who knows china may take a leaf out of UK book,in this century!!!"!! seeing plight if our 3neighbours it seems african countrys also meet the same fate!!!!may GOD help them not fall prey to todays ' developers'!!!!!!!
Short-term it looks to be exporting raw materials (China needs raw materials for its growth), but infrastructure should still bring money to the local African economies as long as it doesn't only benefit mining towns that will disappear when the mine closes.
Not just infrastructure, but living development, welfare and much other things, from China. But you can watch Johnny Harris video on “Chinas rush into Africa”. He talks about It hiding a much darker secret
As a Zimbabwean China has come to our rescue from the sanctions imposed by the west. Zimbabwe is now arguably among the fastest growing economies in Africa. We are building a brand new administrative City a brand new Steel manufacturer, dams, highways, power plants, thanks to our growing trade with China our local cement manufacturers have askes our government for loans to expand their capacity as our construction is on the up. Our railways are being mordenised by a Turkish Company beginning 2022
Debt trap is inadvertently a global problem. We only speak of it when Africa is in the conversation That said, the long term benefits outweigh these momentary tensions and disadvantages. African countries are slowly taking control of their future, one construction at a time
That might be an optimistic view. If countries can't pay their debts, China will take ownership of the railways, roads, harbours, ...they've build. And guess who really has taken control over these countries then... China is fully aware that these countries can't pay back those loans.
Indeed , most of the people who talk this nonsense have never been to africa and seen the massive change and growth. Its the same way they laughed at china in the 80s
I'm not denying that good infrastructure can and probably will create economic growth. The question is whether the growth is enough to finance these multi billion *choose your currency* projects.
@@MrMattie725 Every country in africa allowed china to invest into them and China is fully aware of what they’re doing, except for Swaziland who opted out, but I think that nation changed its name, I forgot the new name
And it is the way forward to the future of a country even though there is initial pain. Which infrastructure project in the world make money immediately???? Even in the west & Japan, rail road & infra are often government financed & lose money for long time.
@@r3dpowel796 I have driven by car along there, the railway is a seriously massive improvement for transporting goods between these two major cities. Sadly I will miss the old worldly charm of the old train with the silver sleeper service, we went on the train for our honeymoon; it was so quaint, lucky we were in no hurry, it took 13 hours.
In central America too since china started investing in Panama there has been a big improvement in developing a new country plus new projects are on the way new canal in Nicaragua new stadium, public library new Port and a water plan...china helps without interference giving respect the spect to the SOVEREIGN countries
Western countries are always criticizing China's infrastructure development in Africa as "debt traps", which keep African nations poor. Ironically, without these projects, African countries have been poor and KEPT poor by hundreds of years of WESTERN colonization/exploitation/western-backed civil wars and arms sales. Western nations want to keep Africans poor so that they rely on their so-called "foreign aid" in exchange for political influence over the region so that they can easily exploit and win contracts for resources in poor African regions. They're upset to see Africans develop their society by themselves with China's help while Western powers and influence decline.
Western countries aren't able to do these massive projects themselves, which yes it is true that a lot of western countries do spend a lot on foreign aid they are however democracies whereby a large amount of the population would not want to spend massive amounts of money abroad which they would not gain from. Plus, Western countries would be branded colonizers if they were to do so.
@@somerandompersonidk2272 Actually that a lie. The west do have more influence on the African continent than China. There are many western companies operating on the continent. There have been tax flight, interference in local politics, community destruction due to exploitation of resources etc. So basically the west is still practicing neocolonialism on the continent but many can’t see that. If African governments were to ban western companies, they will be called communist dictators and anti free market.
@@jaybee4577 France is the only major case of a power really exerting influence, and even then it is primarily limited and related to parts of west africa. You could argue the commonwealth kinda does but even then, it's really limited. Which yeah, they are still acting in Africa but it isn't really that big which yeah, they are still being branded colonizers as if they were to do so which you just did.
China's railway legacy in Africa will be a story of success. The median age in Africa is 20 and soon this will become a highly educated continent with a significantly higher living standard thanks to education and, connectivity.
@@makhtardiop4203 are you talking to me? Lmao, because if you are, let me tell you. Your comment says more about you than it does about me. You are a very disrespectful individual.
@@Deadassbruhfrfr You a very idiotic individual. The similarities aren’t there at all this a completely different phenomenon the African consumer market is growing exponentially something no great power can ignore. China is just first to realize the importance Africa will have within the coming decades. Companies will rush to Africa like they rushed to China and Southeast Asia.
Why do Western countries blame China for the debt trap? That's because Western countries feel that infrastructure construction does not make money, and Africa cannot repay the money, and then those infrastructure constructions are taken over by China. Western countries are completely separating China and Africa. The real situation is this. A country’s economy cannot be derived from the infrastructure itself, but infrastructure can improve the country’s economic efficiency and thus promote the country’s economic development. When the country’s economy develops slowly, it will have the money to repay loans. . If the loan cannot be repaid temporarily, this part can also be negotiated to postpone the repayment. Even if there is no money to repay, China only has the right to operate the facility, and the operating income is used to repay the loan. When the loan is repaid, the right to operate is returned to the African country . But Western countries will not tell the people these things.
the US only always good for criticize and resent others but failed to look at it self in the mirror to see what it had done wrong. If the US companies would do the same railroad project, they would have the same price structure as the Chinese companies. The main and the only purpose for any company is to make the most money from a project and would not loss money. The US resent China's soft-power over Africa was due to the fact the US didn't know how to do it. Although the US had a chance for a long time way before China got in.
China is doing in Africa what Europe should do to avoid refugee crisis such as 2015. However nobody cares in Europe anymore until the next refugees come over. What China does is great. Infrastructure is key for economic development. Of course it wants its share afterwards. Yeah thats how it works. However it is far better than doing war in the whole world to force other countries to follow. What China really has and what every democracy unfortunately lacks of is longterm, 20-50 years ahead, thinking and having a plan.
Ya but Chinas plan is to build up their infrastructure so these African countries become enslaved in debt they cant pay off..…thats the long term picture. They already are doing it with ports in Sri Lanka and with the belt and road initiative
Of course in Europe doesn't give a sh.. Europe is in the pocket of the US, and the only go-to from the US is war, regime change and imperialism through both.
@@RyanMiller-ej8ri so...they should reject the Chinese debt and welcome US war and bombs instead? Asking for a friend in Sudan, Tjad, Somalia and Lybia. Also: does US imposed debt feel better? Asking for a friend in Greece. Power will always screw over the people. No matter what ideology drives it.
Thank you for the support in building the needed infrastructure in Africa. Africans are evermore grateful to China 🇨🇳 in helping build the most critical assets.
@@Sweet-Rat-Milk I’m glad Africa gets more so much needed infrastructure - what other comments are saying is that it’s better to get a loan from a democratic country than from a communist regime. There is a big difference between the two. You obviously don’t understand history nor politics.
@@remi_gio "democratic countries" You really think the West cares about democratic values in Africa or anywhere else? It's all about who who will support the interest of the west. How many times have western countries supported dictatorships in Africa? Look up what happened to Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine or president Morsi of Egypt. All of them were democratically elected, but stood in the way of western geopolitical agenda, so the west supported coups against them.
I totally agree with @audigex ... with what you said here... it is not about the profitability of the railway itself but of elevating people's standards of living (reducing travel times by a factor of 1/2) and allowing businesses to move their goods to ports where they can be exported. The backbone of any country's progress is its infrastructure (railways and highways) and an excellent mass transport system.
There are lots of fighting words in the comment section, but perhaps we can agree that of all the countries currently involved in railway building in Africa (China, Germany, France, Canada, Turkey), at least it is good that they are all building Standard Gauge Railways, so they can one day all be linked together to create a pan-African railway system.
I see no network coming about. The railways being newly built follow the same pattern as those from colonial days. Tap resources and get them to a seaport where they can be shipped. Think about what chances there are for a "network".
Atleast someone is investing in Africa. US doesn't even invest unless it gets short term profit and they still don't have a single high speed railway line at all. And before anyone says anything, no, I'm not agreeing with China since at the end, all of this comes down to politics and money (profit).
I’m Ethiopian and Chinas influence scares me but at least they’re helping somewhat and we get something beyond being solely used for politics or military reasons.
@@JeffreyBue_imtxsmoke he just said what he said -- Do you believe that Africans were better off when Western powers ruled over them for the last few hundred years? Even after decolonization, they didn'tt want to help Africa rebuild so that they would stay poor and rely on them on "foreign aid", which did nothing for Africa except make them vulnerable to Western corporations to come in and exploit their resources for dime on the dollar.
You’re right they’re not just helping you out for political reasons. They’re helping you out for monetary reasons as well. But I mean, someone has to help right?
It typically takes 10 years for traffic capacity to build up for large scale infrastructure projects before they generate income to cover operating costs, Design capacity is for the traffic 25 years into the future. It is cheaper to build for lower traffic figures but ultimately more expensive if the infrastructure is unable to handle the traffic volume within a few years.
You are chinese, you know what you are talking about. I was also thinking when the video said that the income of the railroad is not enough to cover the cost. I was also thinking, This is a longterm investment and takes years before it generates profits. And in the years the economy of the country will get better because of the railroads, and the prices will also rise just as the per person income. Btw, i'm also Chinese. :) Just like in the restaurant business. You cannot pay off all the money you've loaned from the bank in 1 year. Restaurant investment is also big and takes years to pay it off.
@@Coolquake These loans are truly easily to be turned into debt traps. Having your brand associated with such traps could stir controversial sentiment, thus you wouldn't want yourself to be mistaken for the true culprit. However, it's free brand-awareness anyway :)
Deabt trap là bullsht propaganda của Tây lông thôi em ơi. 1 luận điệu quá ngu xuẩn để tin. Ngân hàng nào cho vay mà k cầm cố. Người cho vay mới là ng bị thiệt, chứ ng vay default không trả thì làm quái gi đc nó. Tiền có sẵn để làm đc bao nhiêu thứ, rảnh đâu mà họ đi làm cái mà bọn Tây lông gọi là debt trap, chỉ để đi đòi nợ đói răng ra, chủ nợ đi begging như 1 ăn mày. Nếu k serious và có long term commitment vào cái xứ đó chẳng ai đi invest như vậy cả. Em cứ cho ai vay không trả đi rồi biết.
@@Trgn You just simply do not lend money to people who you know with a certainty that they could not pay back. Collateral should only be the last resort, not the objective of lending. Yet, collateral is just what China has been insisting on getting. By your language, I guest you are just one of many poor brainwashed beings in Vietnam.
Another thing that they tend to not mention is that China never try to repossess those projects in case of default but would rather work with the government on a solution mainly extending the length of the repayment. The wnole narratives of China wanting to take over Africa is a myth propagated by Westerners because they are afraid of China soft power/influence in Africa and developing world. Yet those same Western countries are fighting for the Chinese money. The bipartisan relationship between China and Africa has been very beneficial to both sides so far.
What are you talking about? Sri Lanka and Malaysia both used China to build ports and when they defaulted on the loans the Chinese seized control of them which was their intention all along. I will bet that this Kenyan railroad will later be owned completely by China.
@@rabbit251 That is a lie. As i have stated China did not took over the port in Sri Lanka but the Sri Lankan govt decided to hand over 70% ownership of the port for a 99 year lease and in return they won't have to pay the loan back thus use the money to finance other thing whilst at the same time keeping 30% of the revenue made from the port. If you ask me that is a pretty good deal as the port is going to bring a lot of development. Plus China have not seized control of any ports in Malaysia. Research it.
At least 5 African nations will boom in 10 years time with good connectivities like railroads, internets, schools( China built 20,000 schools in Africa ) , airports( China built 5 airports in Africa)...etc. More low end manufacturings will be in Africa soon. China already open industrial estate in Africa to employ Africans. Teaching Africans to bulit stuff is China's main aim. China -Africa Relationship dated back to the mid 14th century admiral ChengHo's voyage to Africa was welcomed , animals like giraffes and Zebra were gifted to China. Later in the 80s, Zhou En lai and Jiang Jeming visited Africa to sign an agreement to help some of the African nations, all these are archived. It could be hidden , need to do a deep dive.
It's going to be a massive benefit for Africa to have the same rail gauge all over the place. 1435mm is also used in large parts of Europe and the rest of the world so they're going to have a broad choice for future purchases.
1:08 that was Bandung conference in 1955. Once, Indonesia was so active in promoting peace with organized some conferences like, Asia Africa Conference, Non Block Movement, etc. Thanks to our founding father, Soekarno.
Its not collaboration, its a debt trap. China gives you a fat loan and builds infrastructure, CHina now has control over you because of the money you owe. If you default, CHina siezies the assets in your nation directly. It is economic colonialism
@@quillo2747 you do realise that pretty much everyone collaborates with China on how to build railways now right? *They have 71 kilometres of it for crying out loud!!!* They mastered keeping clean and reliable services which benefit economies, not bankrupt them. Keep your “evil leftist agenda” and personal idealism politics out of this, please. I have spam filtering enabled, and replies of that type will be ignored.
You're forgetting that Ethiopia has been going through a civil war for the past year which has paralyzed a lot of economic activity. It is no wonder that the train system is not getting enough passengers and freight to turn a profit.
SO many western apologists just dont understand long term vision and are only speaking of short term debt , these projects are probably the first projects in Africa since colonial rule ended, it is providing vital connectivity .
They did terrible things to Africans, so they believe China will do the same 🤣 they just don’t understand there is a win win solution without colonialism.
Because they can, it's not like we know how to do it... We still use spikes to hold our track down. In fact, I would love China to come to the USA and build our railway.
I have driven by car between Nairobi and Mombasa, the railway is a seriously massive improvement for transporting goods between these two major cities. Sadly I will miss the old worldly charm of the old train with the silver sleeper service, we went on the train for our honeymoon; it was so quaint, lucky we were in no hurry, it took 13 hours.
One of the biggest infrastructure projects in the world and the biggest in Africa is the Lagos to Calabar Railway funded by China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd. (CRCC). Its estimated cost is $11.92b dollars. The estimated completion date is 2027 The project will include the construction of 1402km of line, as well as 22 stations and ancillary facilities, administrative space, and level crossings. It will connect the largest Nigerian city, Lagos to the southwest region of Calabar which is near the border with Cameroon. This is a relatively new project after only gaining approval on 4th August 2021.
Chinese workers get the high pay and leadership position on projects, of cause, Chinese is the expert and skillful to build railway. What do you expect?
Great to see Africa feature on this channel. It would have been useful to discuss the colonial railway programmes and their legacy of creating disconnected economic ecosystems as the focus then was predominantly on resource extraction. The local demographics were greatly affected then (ref South Asian labourers and subsequent communities) and are also changing now due to the Chinese model of exporting their workforce for large capital projects. I think putting these factors on the table would give more context of the current situation in the region for those who are not familiar with it.
"Chinese model of exporting their workforce" "Chinese state owned critical infrastructure" "Chinese minority who dictates to local Africans how things should be done" "Chinese profit from the labour of Africans" gee sure sounds like we have a description for such relationship dynamics... it just escapes me
@@tunxlaw Agreed, I know it’s a fine line and I appreciate the limitations. The B1M however did recognise and touch on it briefly as such large engineering/infrastructure projects are political by nature.
While I love new infrastructure as much as the next person, I wouldn't really be liking the overall move of China eventually taking big chunks of Africa, its infrastructure and potentially its resources hostage with debt. Infrastructure is good, yes, but China being, well, "China", makes people raise doubts.
I didn't understand why some people doesn't want other country to develop.they will do whatever they can to stop their development,i just don't understand why...jist like the European enjoy life African want to enjoy their life too...if you can't help African development pliz don't try to stop or destroy their development
Railroads are not only important to boost trade, thats even the shallow boon. Beyond trade, people of different regions get to access people of other ethnicity, get to work with them, get to befriend them, and get to marry them. This have enormous consequence especially for people in Africa which its ethnic rivarly is one of its biggest downfall. It is a lot harder to hate each other when you get to know each other.
As a Kenyan, I can confirm that things have changed for the better since Chinese introduced the gauge railway between Mombasa and Nairobi. I now wish that Chinese could expand the current SGR railway between to other areas beyond Nairobi into Kampala Uganda and Kigali Rwanda.
Economic colonialism, the contracts basically indenture you to the chinese communist party, especially if you default on the money you now own them, they own you
As long as they dont put your country in deep debt with these "contracts".
Everyone Ganster till they enslave African economies in the ‘Debt trap’ tactic. Enjoy the short term prosperity I guess and remember China does not have your best interest at heart hence the bugging of the African Union building………………
@@quillo2747 The alternative is no project at all.
No western countries would ever try to build infrastructures with that kind of financial risk. So you can choose China or keep living in the jungle. There is no other solution.
As someone from India I can also confirm just wait before China takes over everything in Kenya as well
"The line doesn't bring in enough to pay the $70m operating cost" - countries really need to get over this idea that the railway itself needs to be profitable... the railway ENABLES profitability in other businesses, through movement of people and goods. Yes, the government has to put in $30m of funding each year, but if they are getting more than an extra $30m of taxes due to the extra economic activity, that's worthwhile.
Ha my friend audigex what you simply forgot to realize is that people have always think in term of short term profits.
True if railroad is financed by the country itself but if it financed by a foreign country like China it’s important that the revenue and taxes from increased economic activity are able to cover the loan payments. Otherwise it’s a debt trap.
Exactly, public infrastructure should be cost driven. I love how people that think it should be profit driven are probably the same people that end up complaining health care is too expensive after health care is privatized
@@blainegabbertgabonemhofgoa6602 Precisely I honestly don't think it will end well, especially If the governments partaking in this are using the opportunity to have their natives learn the more technical skills necessary. Eventually they'll be at the mercy of the Chinese, if they are overly dependent on them. But whose to say really...
Worst that can happen Djibout loses its port like Greece.
Not only that, china is also building railways in southeast Asia, recently a railway between china and Laos just opened
The Laos railway will open in December 2021, the trains have just been delivered. This will be a fantastic boost to Laos, a country that never had a railway before but the construction faced challenges due to mountains and unexploded ammunition from USA in Vietnam war.
@@zaxisontherun in Malaysia they only build trains, they’ve built a 350 km/h high speed rail line in Indonesia that will open in 2022 being the worlds fastest tied with China, and China is building a Thailand high speed rail line to link Bangkok and Thai cities and eventually the Lao capital.
Indians are shaking in their pants for no reason
@Ice Bear atleast it can make the trolls furious.
@@simonwhittaker6756 India is in the midst of constructing a 320 km/h high speed rail link from Mumbai to Ahmedabad and a possible extension to Navi and Pune and then Delhi. It’s a joint cooperation between Japan and Indian corporations however it’s plagued with delays and land acquisition is the main issue.
I took the Chinese-built train in Kenya and it was great. It made traveling between Nairobi and Mombasa a lot more feasible with my limited time.
Westerners call it "Debt Trap", actually we see a lot even here in the comments , though everyone knows it's pure jealousy.
@@supernodream Yup. I saw a tweet with this quote from a Kenyan "every time China visits, we get a hospital, every time Britain visits we get a lecture."
@@supernodream haha if they call it a debt trap why dont they help Africa for free? xD
@@Greatcountry37 eventually China stops visiting and starts staying instead :)
@@alx9889 We already do my guy, who do you think feeds Africa?
Obviously, China isn't in the business of providing simple-charity, but I think a lot of people (particularly here in the West) fail to appreciate the enormous boost this infrastructure gives to developing regions. The debt-trap aspects are indeed disconcerting, but the economic development spurred by these projects will have an enormous impact on the nations' finances and ability to pay back loans. Africa is the fastest-developing region on Earth, and I think many underestimate just how much economic power and global influence African countries will soon have. Ultimately, someone had to be the one to bet on Africa's rise, and it just happens to be the world's largest economy (by purchasing-power) to do so. Americans resent China's soft-power over Africa, but we could have easily been the ones to develop these crucial diplomatic links with the developing countries of the world; instead, we've failed to even develop our own transportation infrastructure.
the US could easily do the same with south america but they choose to keep it destabilized instead
You put he headline at the end. The US has been so busy invading Islamic countries, it has completely ignored most internal infrastructure projects, including rail. Combined with massive racist viewpoints, it is no wonder we didn't help Africa with transportation solutions.
CHINA'S COST IS SO MUCH CHEAPER AND RELIABLE. WHILE WESTERN'S IS EXPENSIVE WITH NO DIFFERENCE IN RELIABILITY.
Definitely if no burden in any circumstances, China will be the greatest nation. Even, based on PPP, China is greatest economic in the world.
@UCxhobhmndDcghtT-Flv2bVg the West did that too for decades, launching and supporting coups when things go against their interests.
As someone from one of the countries with rail built by china (Kenya)
There's advantages and downsides of it. But in my opinion the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The rail network is now controlled by Kenyans ,but we're still yet to pay off the loan
You're owned by China like almost every other country in the world.
Nice
Finished paying the debt?...when
@@ksomeone1 when? it was estimated to be in 10years
but I'm pretty sure there was a "grace period" of 5 years
I can fully understand that you take China's helping hand, it would be dumb not to. I believe the west would be better partner, but unfortunately they don't really show much effort or interest. That way would be a great opportunity to strengthen and stabilize democracy in African countries.
Fun fact: Tanzania Zambia Railway was built by China in Mao era. Zero interest loan of 1 billion RMB when China was poor by themselves, plus 56k Chinese workers and experts. 69 of them were buried in Tanzania for the noble course.
then China was a really socialist country.
Another fun fact: In the 80s the railway fell into disrepair and required over $200 million in foreign aid from Europe and the US to remain functional.
@@kilobyte8321 Stop making up bullshit unless you can provide the source
China stopped revolution export strategy by the end of Mao era. Paris club was way too formidable to tackle in the 70's.
@@亲爱的爸爸 china is marxist just like north korea
The Ethiopia railway line only opened in 2018. Revenue growth from $40m in 2019, $62m in 2020, $86m in 2021. Looks like a healthy growth to me.
With the annual operating costs of $70m per year, the railway already covers that in 2021. It is a resounding success, especially considering all the positive benefits for the surrounding communities.
That's actually really impressive it even turned a small profit in 4 years
@@DellDreamer Annul cost wouldn't be fixed either electricity for example might get more expensive and wages are on the raise.
@@paxundpeace9970 well electricity might go cheaper with the ongoing several hydro project
Whr this money going
if you don't like it then don't take it, nobody is forcing, there's contract, it's all written, if you failed to pay what's gonna happen the railway gonna be owned by China, they agree to do this. it's like loaning money from bank, if you failed to pay it back then your home gonna get taken away by the bank, simple. what's so hard to understand? the west like to criticize on the debt trap, is it debt trap if it's known? bank loaning money is debt trap then? if you're so worried why don't you provide better alternative to the countries in Africa? offers better project? why can't you? if what China offers is not good enough then what should we say about the offers from countries in the west? IMF interest for the loan is higher than what China offers but you rarely hear anything about it.
They thought they can fool us.
okay wu mao
It's actually even more hypocritical if you think about it. UK and USA media seem to have a lot of anti-China stuff, some of it based on the sort of stuff this video talks about. They say it's "dangerous" for African countries to "do business with China".
I'm sure China is probably pretty ruthless with these contracts and they are written in such a way that the majority of the "benefit" will end up swinging China's way one way or another. But Jesus H, UK and USA doing the talking about that!? Can they spell "hypocrisy"!?!? At least China is giving these poor countries a chance to play ball! China's method is DEFINITELY more constructive and less deadly than the regime change operations that the UK and USA often do when they want something a poorer country has...
@@ZIGZAG12345 USA invests more into Africa every year than China, but literally nobody gives a shit because its not fancy infrastructure projects.
American investments in Africa have a much higher rate of continued success, as in they actually build wealth in the region. Also, Western nations would never be allowed to undertake projects like this because everyone would cry out about colonialism if they had the same contractual agreements that China has (namely taking control of key infrastructure in a country).
@@Tachizuu okay loser
In 2002 when Kenya first adopted the look east policy, kenyas economy was just under $12b dollars, grown by only $2b by from 1964, on the back of Chinese infrastructure projects and investment , after meaningless 50 year engagement with western trading partners, now over 20 years later, the Kenyan economy is $106b, in the next 30, 1trillion dollars by estimate, GDP per capita has quadripled, 15 million pulled out of poverty, country transitioned from low income
To middle income, HDI grown from 0.4 low to 0.6 medum. In 20 years, electricity connections from under 10% to 85%. Kenya now leads the world in mobile money technology, geothermal energy, and East africa remains among the world fastest growing region. The average Kenyan doesn’t care whether the railway comes from China or America whatever, but people are happy their kids aren’t dying due to lack of hospitals, that they now have power, can take an engineering or artificial intelligence course in newly built universities in their hometown like anywhere in the world. Be blind if you want to, but the only way western countries can beat China in Africa is by outinvesting it.
Idk about other western countries, but the US has to fix it's own infrastructure before it starts investing in other country's infrastructure.
Well said my brother
@@m4x927 yep, the US has lots of catching up to do in terms of infrastructure.
@@m4x927 If the U.S. desires to focus it's efforts on building it's own infrastructure rather than offering bidding for contracts in Africa, then that is perfectly understandable. So long as the U.S. recognises that it will lose influence to China in making that decision. I'm not recommending one decision or the other, it's simply a trade, a decision for the U.S. to make, with perfectly reasonable justifications both ways.
The Kenyan economy actually doubled between the time of adopting multiparty democracy and its look east policy. You'll find that its experienced the same rate of growth in the 2 decades since.
Its debt:gdp has also dramatically worsened in that time, suggesting that more of the growth since the look east policy has been fueled by debt and government spending.
Also, Kenya's gdp in 1964 was under 1 billion, compared to 13.15 billion in 2002. That's 7% gdp growth per year, including 25 years of autocratic rule. In the interim period (post-drought) of Kenya adopting democracy and not "looking East" their growth rate was 9.62% per year. In the time since the growth rate has been 11.86%.
The outlook you give of Kenya before their look East policy and after their look East policy is just not accurate. Yes, growth has been faster, but its always been fast. Had Kenya continued to grow at its previous rate prior to Look East, the difference in GDP would be tangible for sure (70%). But debt to gdp in the past 5 years has grown from 45% to ~70%
That is, over 40 billion dollars of new debt was taken up in 5 years. 8 billion a year, while the economy has grown less than 7 billion a year.
This is the definition of unsustainable debt-fueled economic growth.
Imagine if you started to take out loans greater than your raises every year. Yes you would live well much better than you otherwise could have for the time being, but what happens when those loans come due?
Kenya's economy, as the gateway to East and Central Africa was barely growing before China. Once Kenya welcomed China, all other EAC members have been attracting both Asian and white investors. Kenya is not "relying solely" on China for development as you've out it. Both Britain and America have heavy investments in Kenya from finance to military. The French are also getting good deals in Kenya (Nairobi Railway City & Nakuru - Mau Summit highway). I wonder why the skepticism when it comes to China. A win for Kenya & Ethiopia is a win for everyone in Eastern Africa and even western Europe.
Britain and America have heavy investments in Kenya?? LMAO cool story bro
Yes, China is investing in Infrastructure only mostly. But, all other economic development is from Europe and USA.
The guys who made this video lacked a local's perspective on the matter. That's the problem
@sweet heart Britain literally owns Kenya. Their biggest military training camp outside UK is in Kenya. Lots of British farmers. They're in telecommunication and banking. America is mostly in defense.
@sweet heart yeap. Besides immigrants, Western companies will be some of the biggest beneficiaries. They should in fact be praising China.
Hats off to China for actually developing Africa, when the European and US colonialists forced far harsh loans but they didn’t didn’t actually develop the country (and in many senses tried to prohibit development) but just guaranteed trade routes to extract profit, and interfering with politics. China have a policy of trying to avoid political interference, and on top of that they are actually making Africa gradually more advanced which will benefit the public.
This is colonialism.
Why the double standards? When British Empire built infrastructure is it any different?
@@breakout5205 EXTREMELY different, the West caused Africa to be what Africa is. Western colonialism is the worst acts ever commited in the history of humanity, they literally genocided SEVERAL Whole Continents, SEVERAL..
China on the other hand thinks of mutual business because theyre intelligent enough and not prejudiced enough to know.... that Africa will have majority of the worlds people in the future, very long term strategy
I hope the can also help South Africa .
Solute to my African brother with higher intelligence than Trever N! It's a win and win situation for China and Africa to cooperate with each other instead of divided. West has been doing the best trying to come between Africa and China. Some Snow Queens who pretend to be African have the same mentality as Europeans! So watch out and use your own brain and see in your own eyes!
@@breakout5205 Because it was a freaking colony? The British built infrastructure with the soul purpose of extracting resources from the continent, that means they generally went routes that went from inland to the coast, it didnt connect major population centers or interconnect people and local industries. This is like saying "how come the Nazis were so bad to jews in the early 1930s, I mean they built them the autobahn and provided everyone in Germany jobs right?" Like are you some kind of tool? A moron?
Some people would rather sell weapons to our military dictatorships than help us finance roads, rail hospitals and houses.
When someone else decided to help they make a fuss about it. SMH
As long as they take adequate loans and face critical projects that can help develop the economies of the various countries even faster then I'm sure they'll be able to pay back.
Why is China building Africa's railways? Because China knows, if they want to hold onto their global power, investing in Developing countries is a lot more affective than bombing them. China's been around for around 2000 years, the US has been around about 200 years. China will also be around long after we have fallen.
Just another debt trap, when these countries default ion the loans, which they always do, China takes possession of whatever it constructed, PLUS who knows what else????
@@chrisblue46 If debt trap is so amazing, why don't the US did so? They had more money than China back then (not even close, 100:1 maybe).
@@chrisblue46 simply put China takes over possession of that particular thing it constructed till it recovers the debt immediately debt is recovered ownership reverts to the host nation.
China cannot take anything else it didn't build
@@chrisblue46 Completely false, US imperialist propaganda. You're just jealous because China is investing instead of dropping bombs like we do, and they're winning.
Call it colonialism or debt diplomacy but as a citizen on the ground who's benefiting from the infrastructure im glad China is investing in 🇰🇪
You see this as a good thing cause who haven't studied economics....can't blame you for that
@@shikharsharma1523 then why this is a bad thing in economic perspective??? Enlighten me pls?
@@shikharsharma1523 like my daughter was born in a chinese built hospital, the road i live on got tarmaced and electric lights... ive seen the impact they have had on our economy and its more than i ever thought we would get
@@shikharsharma1523 oh shit, we got an economy expert here, still waiting for your reply.
@@courageousteen1734 It's not a bad thing, they're probably just an American who is brainwashed by anti China/Russia propaganda. As others have rightly stated, the benefits of these infrastructure projects far outweigh the debt that comes with it.
In Nigeria, we are having China construct many railways to connect all part of the country. They also have to hire Nigerians, so there can be skill transfer. We are also reviving our steel plant which is the largest in Africa but have not been functioning to it full capacity due to government neglect.
I don’t like when people associate China and African countries relationship as colonialism because if anybody understand colonialism they will see how different things are going. Everybody wants to work with Africa because they are trying to maintain good relationship and tap into the market due to emerging middle class and young population, so Africans can dictate who they want to work with and without.
Its a different kind of colonialism. This is colonialism using economics and contracts. Nigeria now owes billions to China, that gives China influence over them geopolitically. If you default on the debt you owe, China will sieze all of the assets in your country. It is colonialism, its just done with economics instead of troops. This is China building an empire by buying nations instead of invading them, the result is the same. China now owns you
@@quillo2747 it non of your business many countries owe debt to each other. Nigeria owes most of her debt to European countries.
@@quillo2747 China owns you too. 👋
@@quillo2747 Yep, they will completely control Africa within a decade through trade deals, land annexation and loan based projects, including importing tens of thousands of their own workers who also come with security forces, mark my words. People forget Africa is full of mineral wealth and resources.
@@HermannTheGreat lies
Many people have stated it clearly, for any infostructure project, if you just look at it alone, highly likely it is loosing money. However, you need to consider them as a public good which can bring other business. You need to think about the big picture rather than the bill in front of your eyes. Besides, China has done knowledge transfers to the locals as well by training local engineers and stuffs to operate, maintain, and build this kind of railway. It is a huge intangible asset.
So the EximBank doesn't want it's money back? Really?
Is that why your railroad to the bantustans of China are losing millions and millions of yuan every day? (Well, at least the ones that haven't fallen down already because of faulty construction). That a big reason why China's economy is tanmking is because of these idiotic infrastructure projects? You know, like the ghost cities and the river flow transfer project that is sinking under a flood?
If some countries can devote 1% of the energy from blaming China everyday to think about how to help African countries and implement them, I think Africa could develop much faster.
In reality, those same anti-Chinese people are thinking of how to slow down everyone else like Africa and China.
Aid is not meant to help nations like Africa, it’s a tool to keep them in need while providing the bare minimum. That’s what’s been going on in Africa for decades
That's exactly what the West does not want. They keep Africans poor so we can get their products at a steal.
Sovereign countries have to help themselves first mate. Make no mistake China plays the long term game and is building its own sphere of control just like every strong realm has done in the history of mankind.
Exactly 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
@@dblezi Nice justification for the EXTREME EVILS that the West not only has (as the entire world knows), but CONTINUES to do to Africa, just to sustain its fragile unjust colonial identities
Sometimes, big projects that don't bear fruit immediately can be the catalyst for greater growth. This is probably one of them; Africa has always needed infrastructure but no one wanted to commit the resources and technology because they cannot overcome the chasm of unpredictable returns. China took that risk and hopefully, it will pay off for all.
also china understands things many westernern countries forgot, peace bears more fruit than oppression and anarchy. Many times african leaders were assasinated and whole countries ruined by coups or heavy sanctions by the west.
china knows that when you invest in people it gives them prosperity while entitiling you to some of those fruits. They are still in it for benefits but are playing the long game that westerners generations ago used to play.
places like libya are annihilated for no reason and only cause problems for them and their neighbors, china is smart by gaining debt on these rising nations instead to get cash and protecting their investments.
@@resentfuldragon they can't opress Africa in the globalised World. So they find alternatives. Look at Hambantota port of srilanka.
@@NarutoUzumaki-xd4db The port isn't profitable yet so Sri Lanka and China agreed on an alternative solution that Sri Lanka will not need to pay the loan directly, while China will collect cash flow from the port for 99 years. Still, Sri Lanka got a port to use instead of nothing. What's the problem here?
@@NarutoUzumaki-xd4db by the way is hambantota is such disaster why is India doing the same as china now? Loaning sri Lanka and taking one port in lease for a specified amount of years...isnt it hypocritical of you to call out china when India is doing the same now following chinas path?
@@resentfuldragon Socialism works.
Railway is the coolest form of transport.
Facts
Here come the american suburbanites wanting to argue
For land transport of goods - railway is the best. For water transport of goods - ships are the best. For long transport of people - planes are the best. For short transport of people - railway or maglev is the best. What I just said is facts.
@@gidd maybe because their country's infrastructure is build in the way that doesn't supports railways
@@shikharsharma1523 what?
I hope China can do the same in Brazil, I'd really appreciate a railway crossing the coast from north to south, first.
I would hope so
Good that your country hasn't done it,
it's only going to be a debt trap,
and the rail would eventually close down.
Due to the lack of money, to pay the Chinese for further maintainence.
@@RexKo Be more open minded and progressive, lots of people even chinese doubted the high speed railway, let alone the regular railway, when it was first introduced around 2008 -2010, check out what is happening right now, check out the public view on the HSR. Boom, china has a largest HSR network in the world, public is absolutely super supportive of the modern age HSR. If you are aware of the story that during the planning of certain HSR alignment in central China, two counties fiercely lobbied against each other in hope of getting one HSR station build in their county, so that all the money and logistic will flow towards them. If you can not see the economics and the logics behind this, I don't blame you. You just have to see more how the world is running and how the society and civilization is evolving. Don't ever staying in your comfort zone any more. You shoudl go to china and see how the HSR train is full and how it contributed to the cities development and people's wellfare.
It would be very awesome to have high speed railways here, both to passengers and to commerce. Most part of the Brazilian population lives near the coast, so one line covering it would be enough to serve the whole half of the population alone!
@@gemstonesparkle7915 I agree with you completely. I can see that just in Sao Paulo. It must be very exciting to see all major cities connected by HSR. Where you stay in brasil?
it's ok for US to supprt war in Africa
But it's not ok for china to build a Railways in Africa
That's the west my friend, from their view only they can benefit, other countries around the world can't
Exactly. 🤣🤣🤣👏👏👏
hahahaha~🤣🤣🤣🤣👏👏👏
srilankas situation is to be followed by these african countries chinese debt trap
@@rawmist Trap your mama
If China doesn't give them the loan who else will?....many are focusing on the negatives but there is lots of positives ... A lot was mentioned about previous colonial powers in this videos But nothing was said in depth about how they especially robbed and mined Africa to death and debt. At least Kenya is getting something in return
It's the same as back then. Infrastructure was built for resources; just like in this case.
Like the other commenter said, while mining and robbing, the colonial powers did build up infrastructure to ship all these resources....
If no one wants to give you a loan, chances are it is better for you not to take one anyway because you can't afford it. These nations are now submerged by debts that they can't repay. Yeah, the new trains are nice, but if you can't pay for them they are just a burden.
@@Origami84 ok then great! why don't you also tell that to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that also gives these countries loans that they know they will never be able to repay?.... I know you did not mean to but every time I watch these China rail videos in Africa, it turns into a China bashing video .
@@cevapipapi8920 Yes you are right. The colonial powers first thought was extracting as much resources as possible in a fast and efficient way. Trust me they didn't think about about people first. It was just an indirect consequence of them building the railway, that in the end it also benefitted the people. First thought was still money.
These are not short-term gain projects. Massive infrastructure projects like these take decades to turn "profitable". China, typically, is not in it for the short-term. They invest in the long-term win-win situation for both parities.
100% agree with this statement! China time and time again, has shown to play the long game with its oversees investments.
China is planing to be the foundation for Africa's development.
@@r3dpowel796 Where the west failed, China steps in.
Just hope the materials and the workmanship is better than the crap they build in China itself.
@@chrisblue46
Errr... sure, much better than the crap coming out from your mouth.
It took decades for Chinese engineers to learn, train and develop the skills just to build rail and bridge infrastructures in China so as to maintain safety and durability.
Therefore, Africans need the same learning curve to gain the skills, expertise, knowledge and experiences as they studied in Chinese universities before they could bring all these to Africa. It takes time and efforts. In order for Africa to develop faster, Chinese companies move their engineers and managers to Africa to help. Some Africans benefits from on-job training while top African engineers study in Chinese universities.
It's beautiful and hopeful to witness the birth of a new world order of collaborative development between "third worlds" after centuries of western stealing and colonialism. Now we see a flood of anti-China propaganda and it's very obvious why.
It's interesting how different it is in India, as a comparable former colonial nation. Choice and consequence.
no, chinese built railways in late 19th century by themselves
@@xinyiquan666 Yes! - the late 19th century was over a century after they were first built and used in Great Britain - so it did indeed take them decades (over a century..) to learn what was known in Europe.. Less blind patriotism perhaps? To quote what we can prove 'The first indigenous-designed and -constructed railway by Chinese was the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway built from 1905 to 1909'.. Do tell of what you're talking about though
@@xinyiquan666 The Europeans designed and developed railroad tech and trains. The Chinese merely copied them, which takes intelligence and dedication, but still not the creators or innovators.
"Top management positions are still dominated by Chinese staff." Isn't that the point? Making use of Chinese expertise to build high-standard railways in countries where resources may be harder to come by?
Our resource and our personnel fuck you mean? 🥱
It's ALL a debt trap
@@low-keymarz2684 I have no idea what you just said.
@@eveningrice we’re creating history what is westerners doing about it ? 🤔
@@low-keymarz2684 I don't think you understand my comment. I am saying that there is an obvious reason behind having Chinese people in top management positions, because the projects and products are Chinese and to a Chinese standard. So, I'm not arguing against China at all in this discussion.
Is there a ridiculous idea that this is a debt trap? Let's face it! No one country can help another country free of charge, the Chinese way of doing business, unlike the west, the Chinese are sold you a "fishing rod" not free "fish" for you, because the fish will be finished, but if you learned how to fishing that is a win-win situation, business is business, don't want other people to help free, that is the real trap!
Except the Chinese are not teaching Africans anything. They literally give them loans to build infrastructure but with no real plan on how to maintain it or pay it back. That's why it's a debt trap.
this is literally a word for word copied statement - wumao detected
@@Deadassbruhfrfr China is required to employ Africans for skill transfer. Europe just built the infrastructure without Africa’s engagement.
Another shill bot account
@@Deadassbruhfrfr we are not dumb
Decades ago I discovered that Africa had minimal railways, primarily from mines to the coast. The lack of investment by the west limited this continent while others industrialized. China's brilliant geopolitical move will bring Africa into the wealth of industrialization.
I'd say it varies from country to country
The british built alot of rail in east africa, mainly kenya and tanzania
The western see africa as slave labor while china see them as business partner. American comes and build military bases while china build railway.
Also I'd argue that it is not the lack of investment by the west that has kept africa poor.
Take some time and look at the countries at war in Africa and you'd realize that they are the richest in terms of minerals/natural resources in the whole world. The west benefits from keeping africa at war and in poverty
@@thesauce1682 If by partner's you mean permanent debtor and cheap labor, sure.
@@HermannTheGreat ignore the Wumaos, they cant even read what they're writing
The reasoning is extremely simple. If countries/organisations can offer loans that are not as "bad" as Chinese ones then obviously no one would prefer China's loans. So the obvious question is what stops people who lament about "Chinese takeover of Africa" to actually help Africa.
The truth is for all their pseudo-concern they really don't care about Africa. The average Western citizen believes that it is African people that are the cause of their continent's banes and the Western Colonialism had a trivial part to play if not outright denying the evils of Colonialism. The governments of the West have their own geopolitical and economic interests in keeping Africa poor.
China for one sees an opportunity in Africa unlike the West. It creates necessary infrastructure that will boost the local economies unlike West that is solely interested on only looting the continent.
As for those who argue about debt traps, don't you really know how IMF and WB loans work? Moreover China doesn't interfere too much in the political status quo of the nations it engages with. Unlike the IMF, WB loans or even the famed "Western aid/philanthropy" that many of you wax eloquent about? Much of this aid is made sure to work back into the pockets of the West and its lackeys in the target nations and have their own conditions that target nations must meet. How many of you know that World Bank actively discourages projects that seeks to rehabilitate slum dwellers in their actual locations itself (which usually happen to be in prime locations of the city) and instead prefer to dump them outside the cities, ironic given that many people who stay in slums are those actively involved in occupations inside the city? But yeah it is the Chinese loans alone that harbour insidious intent, right?
I guess Africans can be victims all over again, but hey, at least it's not 'Westerners'.
For these kind of infrastructure projects, you can't expect to break even in a short period of time. You need to take a long term view. Western countries often don't understand that
You think western countries don't understand how infrastructure investement works......?
Dude, the west invented railways.
@@neshirst-ashuach1881 and why they dont do any more railways?
@@ezioauditore5616
????
Europe has an enormous High speed railway network and whilst the USA doesnt use railways as much it has the worlds largest highway network.
This very channel has multiple videos on European infrastructure projects.
Or, perhaps they do understand it, and they understand that a system like this only makes sense if you have the industrial base to build and maintain it and the consumer demand for the transportation to actually make the project financially viable and sustainable in the long term. This is a power grab by China. It's taking on a bad investment in the hopes that future growth may make it worthwhile and it'll be in control at that point. Western countries didn't do it because they didn't bet on the future growth being robust enough. At least according to this data presented, it seems they were right. So, now, how long will China keep pouring money into this project in hopes of a ROI? Probably as long as the West keeps up the massive negative trade deficits and self-destructive economic policies that are destroying their own productivity and transferring trillions in wealth to China.
the rich one，the right one
China is doing a great job improving the infrastructure of Africa. Hats off to Chinese engineers who helped build the railway in other countries.
hello there chinabot
@@Thatsme849 hurt much
@@Thatsme849 hello there dear troll
Haaaa
China is trying to help poor countries not just in Africa. China will make a nice profit in the future along with Africa. Its a win win in my opinion!
People outside can say Debt trap , Extracting resources etc . But in a situation when no other foreign entities willing to bet except China then it’s too tempting for a country to reject it.
While debt is a horrible thing, investment is great.
And in my opinion it is not even a debt trap... The African leaders are fully aware of all the conditions.
If Poison looks tempting so what?
Bro, I think African countries should build things on their own, make it profitable & use revenue for further development.
The West isn't spending money because they studied it & know it's not feasible projects leave profitable.
China giving money knowing they can't pay Back, because it is debt trap.
Building things their own or with grant in aid is the only way forward.
@@Edward4Plantagenet yes we all think Africa should build its own infrastructure but who will fund it, who will give then technical know how. China is no saint... Of course it us looking for its own development but one thing I think is china is better than West. At least china is taking the risk to invest in a country where no one else is willing. And now even india us following same policy.. We have also loaned to srilanka and leased one of its ports. I know no matter what anyone says... Later everyone will follow same strategy.
@@Edward4Plantagenet lol, “building things from their own”. Did ores turns into metal by a single clicks? Did metal turn into railroad with a click? Did railroad placed with recommendations on a God view point? Where do they buy these rails road, cement, station equipment, electronic grid? Do you even know how poor is Africa? You really think a live long farmer could suddenly goes into a field start pounding railroad and mixing cement ?
Those who bashing anything China do in Africa should offer their help or counter offers to those countries instead of spreading lies.
or they can just build their own systems ?
they don’t have to invent any technologies, it’s already widely known tech.
@@vee2easy Problem is lack of experience, infrastructure or financial in the first place. Not to mention the bureaucratic deficiency to start a long term project to start from the ground up.
spot on
@@vee2easy then build one at home
Why can't Africans help themselves and build their own?
SGR in Kenya has brought with it the kind of development which may have taken more than ten years to be realized. The project is good in itself.The road networks are also good and will help enhance development
The railway should have extended to Kisumu
Nairobi Mombasa expressway was to be done by an American company
I think if Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Angola, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are thoroughly link with each other by China standard gauge, it will be a game changer and the railways will bring lot of development to a number of sectors. I'm just wondering which will be the first sub-Saharan country that will have a HSR in its territory.
If this links really happened. I guess these Africa countries you mentioned together will be the next fastest economy growth in the world as like China from 80s to present.
Sweet dreams baby 🐥
The more trade the better.😄
$40m revenue vs $70m cost in the first year, I'd say within 5-10 years this project is totally sustainable according to our experience in China.
10 years ago there are huge debates within China about whether high speed railway can turn a profit ever. Now there are more and more profitable tracks, some of them even make big money. You can almost never make money in the early years of an infrastructure project, waiting longer will only cause rising cost in the future, thus making the project even financially impossible.
And never forget as infrastructure, most of its benefits is beyond its own financial statement. The time saved by passengers, jobs created, real estates developed due to connectivity, as well as lower transportation cost of trade goods. In fact these benefits are far larger than its own profit.
Btw.. train and road systems need not necessary be for profit only? GOVERNMENT responsibility to provide such basic needs to its population,,the people of the nation STATE including those living in that region, between neighbours NATIONS.!
However the amount of profitable tracks in China is completely outweighed in comparison to how many are operating at a loss. Overall China''s railways are in massive dept, see the channel "China insights" for more information. Had they made they dual use so they could also be used for industrial transport as well then things may have worked out differently, who knows.
@@Samqdf the last place to learn things is usually ended with “insights”,”observers”, and “watchers”
@@lucaszhang2359 I can see why you think that. However you have a simple alternative that backs up the claim- you can check the Chinese governments official financial numbers which is what the channel used for their report.
Well said, bro.
I have watched a few such videos. The focus is always on operating losses. It's obviously a wrong way to measure success. Connectivity brings business activities which generate additional tax income for the government, create jobs for the locals and many other benefits. On top of that the social aspect is often forgotten. With high speed train network, people enjoy shorter travel time and good explorations in the region. In short, citizens become happier. It's priceless.
Working far from home for long periods is also not good for the social structure. Being able to go home at night or for the weekend is valuable.
Investment in Africa is a long term investment and gain. They are more than animal parks for tourists. By building and helping to build infrastructure that links the different parts together and to the rest of the world, you establish friendships between countries and trade links that will improve both societies. I say in 40 years, Africa will turn it's back on Europe and the West and look towards the East for trade partners and the West will be left wondering why and how did this happen.
change they to there we aren't animal parks
China will just colonize Africa. The West needs to build its own railroads for Africa without debt traps.
@Kill Billy That would be great because the factories aren't in West Taiwan anymore.
@@tompeled6193 wow you really do hate seeing others developing themselves. Well i doubt any western countries are willing to make any investment especially for the US which lacks railroad in its own territories.
@@tompeled6193 west famous for having debt traps is having a hissy fit. Go choke a chainsaw and read up what IMF and the world bank had done
Its funny to see in the comments people think this is colonialism… they obviously don’t know what colonialism is
you do know how colonialism spread in many cases in the 19th century right?
A country would finance a railroad to be built, or factories to be built in a target country. Then it would fail to turn a profit (often by design) and the country would take ownership of that critical piece of infrastructure, and set up military bases along its length or at key checkpoints. They would then press the locals to work in their factories, or charge exorbitant prices for infrastructure which they made necessary for them. Once the locals get pissed off enough and kill a couple foreigners then the imperial country steps in to protect its citizens.
That's literally the imperialist playbook.
@@AbeYousef look at this guy, scared to death of Chinese rails. 😝
You forgot to mention the OTHER critical infrastructure that China is building all over Africa that’s been sorely needed for decades like basic things like roads, schools, water treatment centers, drilling water wells, hospitals, coal plants, dams….. I mean I could go on but if you still think that’s colonialism then you sir are a genius 👌
Also, in case you really don’t know. what the west did was build things called extraction corridors, meaning roads and basic facilities along certain routes to and from the extraction sites to the ports to ship the raw materials off and out of Africa. Things like rubber (don’t have to tell you the horrendous stories of slavery done by the belgiums in the Congo to get that), and other raw materials
It is disrespectful to those who underwent colonialism. More like projection to avoid taking responsibility for the misdeeds
@@CS-wn5lv Without colonialism large tracts of the world would still be living in the stone age , be grateful
Western countries should stop viewing everything through geopolitical lenses. If you dont like China’s projects, why don’t start your own in African? Set up a model project completely run by African, from top management to manual labors, and turning profit every year. Show the world how it should be done. Let Africans be the final judges!
"run by Africa" oh god that's hilarious. They can't even have elections without civil wars or stop genociding each other. Give me a fucking break.
@@jr-wv4qw this is sort of a chicken and egg situation. If these countries were developed (e.g. via infrastructure), people would have more economic opportunities, which can help to stabilize them. Without any development, people remain feeling hopeless about their situation, making crime and fraud look much more attractive.
@@benjaminw.1471 Amazing how this only gets trotted out in the context of Africa and South America. Meanwhile countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East all were able to modernize without falling to pieces, even considering colonial pressures.
they are just good at talking. They have been rich for generations, and had every chance to show the world. They didn't. And now when China is showing the way, they get all jealous.
@@jr-wv4qw Civil wars have stopped in most African countries. Nothing like it was in the 80s and 90s today. Keep up.
As an American, I wish we would join the Belt and Road Initiative. To say we need it is an understatement.
We need help with our infrastructure and job programs, but my country is run by Cold War psychopaths.
The u.s and China working together could probably solve most of our world's problems.
It will not happen. The mentality is to keep under-developed / developing non-western countries as is so we can print money without doing anything. It is slow self-destructing motion.
@36G Impossible after they trying to intervene china internal problem with taiwan
@@36G for real 😭 US and China working together would make the whole world a more stable place. They gotta stop their trade wars shaking up the global economy
@@36G 美国灭亡能解决世界上所有的恐怖主义问题
This kind of projects will take years before it reaches the return of investment.
I hope this new infra will bring economic growth and stability to the nation.
infrastructure investment is long term benefit and good for most of people and biz
IKR. Line opened in 2018, it failed to make a profit in 2019, no shit? Even the advanced british businesses and government needed more than a year to transition from being an EU member to not. Imagine how long it would take for Ethiopian businesses to learn to exploit the new railway.
I always thought it was meant to boost 100x more the emptying of the continent's ivory, pangolin-skin, rhino horn, timber.
30.000 elephants a year are now killed for their ivory. The pangolin population is almost extinct..!!
It will. One factor that has made stable states in Africa incredibly difficult is how expensive strategic mobility can be; it is difficult to control an area that a man cannot traverse. Thus, even if one had the strength to dominate their state, they could not e.ploy it when and where it is needed.
Viewing public infrastructure through the lens of a vacuum on whether the project itself will have a positive ROI is typical short term Western thinking.
China is running a huge "loss" on its national high speed rail project but its economy exploded after the project enabled its people to move about much more freely.
For people constantly saying it's a debt trap, you have to know China's own railway network is also not really benefiting. China built the railways because it increases stability, decreases unemployment and enhances economic ties along the regions that rail crosses. Infrastructures are used to increase a country's soft power instead of waiting for them to print money.
@Jordie Good perspective and that's also the reason why the USA doesn't have even 1 single high speed rail(the current construction will take 5 more years).
. In China they have some ghost-towns = some investors didnt get their paybacj. In the west we have many ghost-appartment = appartments bought only for investment, increasing the value of the property marked.
@Jordie you thinking about the rail line form China to Germany,
I read the reason China didn't industrialize in the 19th century was they didn't invest in railroads to coal formations in western China. Sounds like railroads to central Africa will help development, not only in the countries with coastlines, but eventually those that are land-locked.
Yep. Meanwhile most Western railways are only envisioned in terms of short term profitability. And the "debt trap" claims are mostly US propaganda. Studies from the Lowy Institute in Australia found most of the times the Chinese actually extended or negotiated loans.
I just can't see Alstom or Seimens building this , especially for 3.5 billion. If anything Kenya would be in debt $25 billion , that'd why China fits nicely in this picture
Ikr. They'd probably take forever too
It's hard to compare costs between countries, but Denmark has just completed a double-track high-speed railway (250 km/h) at $30 million/km.
The Mombasa-Nairobi Line is single-track, design speed 120 km/h. Cost: $6.2 million/km.
So there definitely a difference in cost, but also in specifications, and in location, of course.
Siemens is building a high speed line in Egypt, and Morocco has a French-built TGV line. The Chinese are far from the only ones building railways in Africa.
Yes. They're cheap
@@mikeblatzheim2797 Tanzania is also building its own SGR from Dar es Salaam to Kigali, being funded and built by Turkey.
Its so funny, when China owns 1.5 trillion USA debt they say nothing... but when China owns a few billion in African debt, they claim debt trap... 😂
Well the USA can pay back pretty easily Africa on the other hand can't
@@Lord_Alhaitham not necessarily
@ψ... Lord ΛΙhαιτhαm...ψ May be you don't know about Chinese and African governments deal of Raw material. Aftica is a rich continent. It's resources have been exploited by west for over a century.
@@burusho8488 true
@shiro oh yea
I wouldn't worry about the railway standards being chinese, on the contrary, I think that its better that a continent as a whole has one single standard than multiple ones since that allows a complete and connected network to be linked up in the future. Its easier for an american or european (or even african) railway manufacturer to build trains with chinese standards than it is to build a train that can run on multiple standards.
Only the future will tell how things will turn out for the countries who participate in the B&R program, as a european I can only say that I'm glad that it is not our responsibility.
all good China will own all these Raillines soon enough when African countries start defaulting on the debt. Ohwellwhocaresdugyourowngraves
@@benrodir2 Mad westerner? XD
@@Chadmeleon definitely, probably still waiting for trump to save the world. He should have gone to trump university, o wait... bwhahahaha
@@benrodir2 I, like you, think Africa shouldn't progress beyond the 19th century and it's no one else's problem that they're too incompetent and useless to fix the mess that the West left after their adventures there (I mean, come on, colonialism wasn't even that bad ffs, woke justice warriors on the prowl again). Fuck China and fuck Africa. Only the West is allowed nice things.
Big /s in case the flags weren't obvious enough.
@@benrodir2 I think most of these leaders who sign on to these “debt traps” aren’t stupid. They know the consequences, but infrastructure is so badly needed they’re willing to sign themselves over to china, as long as it keeps investing in them. The west should invest more in Africa so there is a more safe alternative, but instead they just sit on their beds and complain
One interesting point though, when Kenya issues Eurobonds, which are often oversubscribed, it's been hard to get by comments such as debt trap and etc. On the other hand, taking a loan from China, which will be repaid obviously, attracts all manner of comments and epithets. It just seems like some people are still daydreaming about the colonial days. Kenya is an independent country and welcomes every good idea available out there but I guess no one can swallow humiliation and insults of the yesteryears in this century.
Many white people prefer the good old days of colonialism.
@@asdf3568 True. I hear plenty of people still defending the US colonization of the native americans. I bet these same people would also criticize China for building infrastructure in Africa.
@Zaydan Naufal I think semi here refer to the form of the colonization… bruh.
@Zaydan Naufal The history in China is a slightly different from that in other formerly-colonized countries. China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society 100 years ago. The Westerners did not take full control over China. The Qing Dynasty still held strong (though diminishing) and independent (to some extent) rule over China before overthrown. Afterwards, the local warlords still had control over part of China. The "semi-" is a relative term that refers to the fact above. China was destroyed not solely by Western colonists, but also by domestic emperors and bureaucrats.
But 99% Redditors tell me that such are China's debt trap. Redditors really care about African people's well-being despite that they don't care about the victims under Wars waged by the West in the last many decades. Strange!
Just a small tip. The logo you use at 3:55 of Eximbank is actually from a bank in Vietnam. The Exim Bank of China has a different logo.
When Malaysia was developing its manufacturing sectors in 80s & 90s, all the American factories in Malaysia from CEO down to managers level are American expatriates! I am shocked when that comment is made about China.
Expatriate more like immigrants.
Not gonna comment on Chinese investments.
However I've always found it weird that Americans (only? Or even Europeans), just made up a word called expatriates,
Because obviously they cant be immigrants!
Oh the humanity!
Why is everything about China always compared to "oh, but America did this one thing back in 1986" like Jesus. Is everyone just obsessed with America?
yep as usual american propaganda machinery works through various mediums. even so-called educational videos are full of subtle propaganda.
@@AmanKumarPadhy most americans live in make-believe world of their own that is far removed from reality
why always need to pick something of a normal business trade and turn in to negative, like" repair parts have to come from China" . its like saying China buying Airbus its a problem,, because repair parts has to come from Europe ! so don't buy Airbus ?
Right!? I tought I was the only one that caught that. Like wtf do you expect? 🤣🤣 US holds most chip making patents, ofcourse you have to rely on us licenses 🤣. It's the same thing!
then china is dumb enough to buy trillions of us debt bonds perhaps? it is real debt trap. but no western media advise china stop buying us debt bonds? 🤔 especially a country keep attacking china.
Exactly!
@@dxelson lol so your country does not allow patents? I’m not following your logic. Check out some of the many open source projects
Airbus aircraft used by China are built in China by Chinese workers at Airbus Tianjin.
I wish governments in South America would have similiar projects with China. We need to develop a good railways network.
They need to invest in education more than a railway. It would be just another way for China to get richer and destroy the environment of of South American like they have destroyed their own.
@@MeneTekelUpharsin Said from someone who use the cheap chinese production and bitching about environment.
@@niceu6983 And everyday losing less and less Chinese junk. No wonder China is getting desperate.
It's a good idea but difficult. If a southern American country does what the US doesn't want it to do, it might very quickly find itself invaded by the largest, most powerful army in the world.
@@MeneTekelUpharsin Okay, out of curiosity, when you talk about education, what is in your mind exactly?
Thank you for your balanced and unbiased neutral opinions about these railway projects! Unbiased report about China is rarely seen these days from the mainstream media.
I suppose this is a joke
@@franciscoratusznei8012 You are a joke
From Kenya and i have watched all your videos. Good stuff!
Don't let them know we have internet in Africa.
@@Biobele they must know. we need more investors.
I think the move from China is very clever. If they can build huge infrastructure in Africa they would be able to massively increase their customer base. The more people who have money the more money people will spend. They will also be able to encourage a country which has huge amounts of untapped natural resources to milk the planet for all it's worth without being directly involved.
The real reason they're doing it is because they know the countries won't be able to pay back the loans and then they seize the infrastructure and claim it as theirs. They're doing this with ports too. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in this video.
Soemone sounds salty as f.😂
@@fiverZ are you smoking meths cos.your speaking bullsh*t
@@fiverZ this has been disproven multiple times. You have to do better on your research.
Yeah, trading on a win-win basis instead of subjugation.
"The line doesn't bring in enough to pay the $70m operating cost"
Roads and Rails bring development to the towns along these roads and rails. It stimulates, grows and hasten the local economy. These are the intangibles that a profit driven guy from a capitalistic country will not understand. Using their western model where a project will not get built unless it'll give a profit in the first or early years, Africa will never ever have infrastructures built, will never ever develop. Maybe, this is what they want.
That's cute but if you can't pay its operating costs it will eventually fall apart. Local economic growth is a tangible thing, through taxation and under public administration it should eventually be self sustainable. Otherwise it was poorly designed and more of a debt trap kind of move :D
@@zarmeza Its infrastructures. Governments build infrastructures not to make profit but to serve the people. Governments have budgets for infrastructures. It is not about being cute. It is about building for the development and progress of the country. You're the one being cute. GOODBYE!
Tell me who is building the infrastructure Chinese workers and who is manufacturing locomotives Chinese so how will it stimulate your industry profitable don't means money it means if there is a need for example building a mall in a village Chinese build ghost cities because they know ghost cities will become booming city very quickly but what about you Africans if you are
@@rudrakumar5516 You don't have roads and rails, you don't have transportation, you don't have products, goods and other stuff going from the source to the consumer. You don't have transportation, you don't have people and business transactions from place to place.
This is basic stuff! If you don't know, go educate yourself more before you deem yourself able to able to discuss with people.
@@rap3208 no it is not like africans should not get Chinese railways rather I want you people to have more africans and technology transfer remember they also have technology transfer from foreign countries.
Transportation is one of the most important means for economic growth in any country.They will be appreciate this sooner or later.
I love how this man said Europe, Asia, Japan, India and *PARTS* of the US.
India will have Sinkenshen in 3 years tops.
@@manurr10 that's good but this reply is not relevant
@@manurr10 the time india will take to build few high speed rail is equal to the amount of time china took to build the largest network of high speed rail in the world
Because is true, North America is light years behind railroad infrastructure, we don't have high speed trains like Japan, China or Europe, and seems like we never going to see it
@@venustianozaragoza9436 You're right we won't. Ever superimposed a map of Texas over a map of Europe? That'll tell you all you need to know.
It looks like a much less evil version of British railway legacy throughout its former colonies where locals were used as slave workers to build railway tracks to far barren stretches of land to mine the gold, copper, iron reserves and minerals which were then shipped back to the mainland UK free of cost. In my country, one can still see the remnants of these abandoned tracks, bridges and tunnels which end up in the middle of nowhere. I'm glad we are past that dark era now.
There's no legacy from "former colonies". They built tracks from mines straight to ports. That's useless and helps nobody but the colonial homebase. THIS is actual infrastructure development
Dit zie je overal in ontwikelings landen..de rooftocht en eigen ontwikkeling dan plaatselijke volkeren ecconomie te ontwikkelen.
朋友，未来一定会越来越好。加油！
Yes!!! in Indian sub continet british did for 200years, in the name of "development"!!!!! but the real, hidden, motive was extracting rich natural resources ' free of cost' to their home land!!!😡😠😡😠😡😠that is why UK is rich instead of Indian sub continent,, UK's has most wealth includes brought from bleeding Indian subcontinet mainly, & other WIndian colonies!!!! who knows china may take a leaf out of UK book,in this century!!!"!! seeing plight if our 3neighbours it seems african countrys also meet the same fate!!!!may GOD help them not fall prey to todays ' developers'!!!!!!!
Short-term it looks to be exporting raw materials (China needs raw materials for its growth), but infrastructure should still bring money to the local African economies as long as it doesn't only benefit mining towns that will disappear when the mine closes.
This was a pretty cool video man! I learned so much from it. I'm glad Africa is at least getting some support for infrastructure
Not just infrastructure, but living development, welfare and much other things, from China. But you can watch Johnny Harris video on “Chinas rush into Africa”. He talks about It hiding a much darker secret
This isnt for free, Africa is now part of the chinese empire, the contracts for building the infrastructure indenture these countries to china
just hope Africa can pay back all those infrastructure loan... China is not donating these for nothing.
They have made a deal with the devil (China) your now in China back pocket
@@Racko. that just propaganda. That John Harris guy has been called out for his propaganda videos. Africans can work with whoever they want.
Not charity, but rather pragmatic business deals and relationship building, with a significant tangible net benefit for the people.
As a Zimbabwean China has come to our rescue from the sanctions imposed by the west. Zimbabwe is now arguably among the fastest growing economies in Africa. We are building a brand new administrative City a brand new Steel manufacturer, dams, highways, power plants, thanks to our growing trade with China our local cement manufacturers have askes our government for loans to expand their capacity as our construction is on the up. Our railways are being mordenised by a Turkish Company beginning 2022
Debt trap is inadvertently a global problem. We only speak of it when Africa is in the conversation
That said, the long term benefits outweigh these momentary tensions and disadvantages. African countries are slowly taking control of their future, one construction at a time
That might be an optimistic view. If countries can't pay their debts, China will take ownership of the railways, roads, harbours, ...they've build. And guess who really has taken control over these countries then... China is fully aware that these countries can't pay back those loans.
@@MrMattie725 I'm in one of those countries. First hand info, not just optimistic. Thank you for your sentiments
Indeed , most of the people who talk this nonsense have never been to africa and seen the massive change and growth. Its the same way they laughed at china in the 80s
I'm not denying that good infrastructure can and probably will create economic growth. The question is whether the growth is enough to finance these multi billion *choose your currency* projects.
@@MrMattie725 Every country in africa allowed china to invest into them and China is fully aware of what they’re doing, except for Swaziland who opted out, but I think that nation changed its name, I forgot the new name
I mean its got a reailway at least, imagine only needing to go 5 hours rather than 10 hours
It can carries tonns of goods without trucks.
Am so much glad Investing here
This company really gives me peace of mind Investing here dm to invest ☺️☺️
And it is the way forward to the future of a country even though there is initial pain. Which infrastructure project in the world make money immediately???? Even in the west & Japan, rail road & infra are often government financed & lose money for long time.
@@r3dpowel796 I have driven by car along there, the railway is a seriously massive improvement for transporting goods between these two major cities.
Sadly I will miss the old worldly charm of the old train with the silver sleeper service, we went on the train for our honeymoon; it was so quaint, lucky we were in no hurry, it took 13 hours.
In central America too since china started investing in Panama there has been a big improvement in developing a new country plus new projects are on the way new canal in Nicaragua new stadium, public library new Port and a water plan...china helps without interference giving respect the spect to the SOVEREIGN countries
Western countries are always criticizing China's infrastructure development in Africa as "debt traps", which keep African nations poor. Ironically, without these projects, African countries have been poor and KEPT poor by hundreds of years of WESTERN colonization/exploitation/western-backed civil wars and arms sales. Western nations want to keep Africans poor so that they rely on their so-called "foreign aid" in exchange for political influence over the region so that they can easily exploit and win contracts for resources in poor African regions.
They're upset to see Africans develop their society by themselves with China's help while Western powers and influence decline.
Western countries aren't able to do these massive projects themselves, which yes it is true that a lot of western countries do spend a lot on foreign aid they are however democracies whereby a large amount of the population would not want to spend massive amounts of money abroad which they would not gain from. Plus, Western countries would be branded colonizers if they were to do so.
@@somerandompersonidk2272 Actually that a lie. The west do have more influence on the African continent than China. There are many western companies operating on the continent. There have been tax flight, interference in local politics, community destruction due to exploitation of resources etc. So basically the west is still practicing neocolonialism on the continent but many can’t see that. If African governments were to ban western companies, they will be called communist dictators and anti free market.
@@jaybee4577 France is the only major case of a power really exerting influence, and even then it is primarily limited and related to parts of west africa. You could argue the commonwealth kinda does but even then, it's really limited. Which yeah, they are still acting in Africa but it isn't really that big which yeah, they are still being branded colonizers as if they were to do so which you just did.
@@somerandompersonidk2272
so why the US spent $2 trillion in Afghanistan??
Amazing content B1M. Thank you for coming to Kenyan.
China's railway legacy in Africa will be a story of success. The median age in Africa is 20 and soon this will become a highly educated continent with a significantly higher living standard thanks to education and, connectivity.
Yay for colonization debt trap 2.0. Enjoy!
@UCEOcEnxesJC631KziZq4Odg Go ahead miserable hater
@@makhtardiop4203 are you talking to me? Lmao, because if you are, let me tell you. Your comment says more about you than it does about me. You are a very disrespectful individual.
@@Deadassbruhfrfr You a very idiotic individual. The similarities aren’t there at all this a completely different phenomenon the African consumer market is growing exponentially something no great power can ignore. China is just first to realize the importance Africa will have within the coming decades. Companies will rush to Africa like they rushed to China and Southeast Asia.
Why do Western countries blame China for the debt trap? That's because Western countries feel that infrastructure construction does not make money, and Africa cannot repay the money, and then those infrastructure constructions are taken over by China. Western countries are completely separating China and Africa. The real situation is this. A country’s economy cannot be derived from the infrastructure itself, but infrastructure can improve the country’s economic efficiency and thus promote the country’s economic development. When the country’s economy develops slowly, it will have the money to repay loans. . If the loan cannot be repaid temporarily, this part can also be negotiated to postpone the repayment. Even if there is no money to repay, China only has the right to operate the facility, and the operating income is used to repay the loan. When the loan is repaid, the right to operate is returned to the African country . But Western countries will not tell the people these things.
the US only always good for criticize and resent others but failed to look at it self in the mirror to see what it had done wrong. If the US companies would do the same railroad project, they would have the same price structure as the Chinese companies. The main and the only purpose for any company is to make the most money from a project and would not loss money. The US resent China's soft-power over Africa was due to the fact the US didn't know how to do it. Although the US had a chance for a long time way before China got in.
China is doing in Africa what Europe should do to avoid refugee crisis such as 2015. However nobody cares in Europe anymore until the next refugees come over. What China does is great. Infrastructure is key for economic development. Of course it wants its share afterwards. Yeah thats how it works. However it is far better than doing war in the whole world to force other countries to follow. What China really has and what every democracy unfortunately lacks of is longterm, 20-50 years ahead, thinking and having a plan.
Ya but Chinas plan is to build up their infrastructure so these African countries become enslaved in debt they cant pay off..…thats the long term picture. They already are doing it with ports in Sri Lanka and with the belt and road initiative
Of course in Europe doesn't give a sh.. Europe is in the pocket of the US, and the only go-to from the US is war, regime change and imperialism through both.
@@RyanMiller-ej8ri so...they should reject the Chinese debt and welcome US war and bombs instead? Asking for a friend in Sudan, Tjad, Somalia and Lybia.
Also: does US imposed debt feel better? Asking for a friend in Greece.
Power will always screw over the people. No matter what ideology drives it.
“Long term thinking” bet that’s why the one China policy was so good 😂
@@RyanMiller-ej8ri yup!!
Thank you for the support in building the needed infrastructure in Africa. Africans are evermore grateful to China 🇨🇳 in helping build the most critical assets.
China build railroads in Europe also, Belgrade - Budapest just started construction all by Chinese.
China also built the bridge between Dubrovnic and Croatia main land, one of the biggest bridges in europe.
Exactly but these people in the comment section wants to police Africans actions and thoughts.
@@Sweet-Rat-Milk I’m glad Africa gets more so much needed infrastructure - what other comments are saying is that it’s better to get a loan from a democratic country than from a communist regime. There is a big difference between the two. You obviously don’t understand history nor politics.
@@remi_gio "democratic countries" You really think the West cares about democratic values in Africa or anywhere else? It's all about who who will support the interest of the west.
How many times have western countries supported dictatorships in Africa?
Look up what happened to Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine or president Morsi of Egypt. All of them were democratically elected, but stood in the way of western geopolitical agenda, so the west supported coups against them.
@@Sweet-Rat-Milk 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️#alternativehistory
I totally agree with @audigex ... with what you said here... it is not about the profitability of the railway itself but of elevating people's standards of living (reducing travel times by a factor of 1/2) and allowing businesses to move their goods to ports where they can be exported. The backbone of any country's progress is its infrastructure (railways and highways) and an excellent mass transport system.
What does the western big powers contribute to African development?
Exploiting them and Criticizing China? LOL
Slave trade, blood diamonds and proxy wars.
Nothing...only fucking their natural resources
Sad to see such ignorance, and further reinforced by the comments underneath.
@@johanfalk2875 Says the white man...
There are lots of fighting words in the comment section, but perhaps we can agree that of all the countries currently involved in railway building in Africa (China, Germany, France, Canada, Turkey), at least it is good that they are all building Standard Gauge Railways, so they can one day all be linked together to create a pan-African railway system.
I see no network coming about. The railways being newly built follow the same pattern as those from colonial days. Tap resources and get them to a seaport where they can be shipped. Think about what chances there are for a "network".
@@V100-e5q Well, I'm a little more optimistic. Let's give it twenty years and come back and continue the discussion. See you on October 26, 2041 😃
Yeah, if Britain did it there would be twenty different track guages lol!
I don't think Africa should be developed. The land should be left alone like the Amazon.
@@Levitiy so the people can continue to stay poor??
China is buiding the railways in Kenya and Lao. China will become a nation of railway developer in the world.
very good journalism. keep up the good work.
Atleast someone is investing in Africa. US doesn't even invest unless it gets short term profit and they still don't have a single high speed railway line at all. And before anyone says anything, no, I'm not agreeing with China since at the end, all of this comes down to politics and money (profit).
The US has the High Speed Amtrak Acela Service on the Northeast Corridor. It's not nothing, though it does need upgrades.
Amtrak is getting a huge payload from the government allowing it to buy better equipment and it’s own tracks
@@OhioCentralModeler agreed
florida, cali, and texas have private railroad companies building high speed rail....
I’m Ethiopian and Chinas influence scares me but at least they’re helping somewhat and we get something beyond being solely used for politics or military reasons.
"but at least they’re helping and not solely using us for political reasons".... do you really believe that?
@@JeffreyBue_imtxsmoke he just said what he said -- Do you believe that Africans were better off when Western powers ruled over them for the last few hundred years? Even after decolonization, they didn'tt want to help Africa rebuild so that they would stay poor and rely on them on "foreign aid", which did nothing for Africa except make them vulnerable to Western corporations to come in and exploit their resources for dime on the dollar.
Why is Ethiopia fighting? As Chinese, we are very afraid that we will not be able to get back investment funds.
@@sleepyjoe4529 uh, debt traps... my dude. debt traps.
You’re right they’re not just helping you out for political reasons. They’re helping you out for monetary reasons as well. But I mean, someone has to help right?
Your reporting just keep getting better and better. It is informative, well documented, unbiased and great cinematography.
@@goodlife7012 elaborate?
I bet 30 years from now, Africa would be a major player in would stage.
It typically takes 10 years for traffic capacity to build up for large scale infrastructure projects before they generate income to cover operating costs, Design capacity is for the traffic 25 years into the future. It is cheaper to build for lower traffic figures but ultimately more expensive if the infrastructure is unable to handle the traffic volume within a few years.
You are chinese, you know what you are talking about. I was also thinking when the video said that the income of the railroad is not enough to cover the cost. I was also thinking, This is a longterm investment and takes years before it generates profits. And in the years the economy of the country will get better because of the railroads, and the prices will also rise just as the per person income. Btw, i'm also Chinese. :) Just like in the restaurant business. You cannot pay off all the money you've loaned from the bank in 1 year. Restaurant investment is also big and takes years to pay it off.
3:56 6:05 That was the logo of Vietnam Eximbank, not the Exim Bank of China.
To the people who made this video all yellow is the same.
ok but doesnt matter... Debt trap is the issue
@@Coolquake These loans are truly easily to be turned into debt traps. Having your brand associated with such traps could stir controversial sentiment, thus you wouldn't want yourself to be mistaken for the true culprit. However, it's free brand-awareness anyway :)
Deabt trap là bullsht propaganda của Tây lông thôi em ơi. 1 luận điệu quá ngu xuẩn để tin. Ngân hàng nào cho vay mà k cầm cố. Người cho vay mới là ng bị thiệt, chứ ng vay default không trả thì làm quái gi đc nó. Tiền có sẵn để làm đc bao nhiêu thứ, rảnh đâu mà họ đi làm cái mà bọn Tây lông gọi là debt trap, chỉ để đi đòi nợ đói răng ra, chủ nợ đi begging như 1 ăn mày. Nếu k serious và có long term commitment vào cái xứ đó chẳng ai đi invest như vậy cả. Em cứ cho ai vay không trả đi rồi biết.
@@Trgn You just simply do not lend money to people who you know with a certainty that they could not pay back. Collateral should only be the last resort, not the objective of lending. Yet, collateral is just what China has been insisting on getting. By your language, I guest you are just one of many poor brainwashed beings in Vietnam.
Another thing that they tend to not mention is that China never try to repossess those projects in case of default but would rather work with the government on a solution mainly extending the length of the repayment. The wnole narratives of China wanting to take over Africa is a myth propagated by Westerners because they are afraid of China soft power/influence in Africa and developing world. Yet those same Western countries are fighting for the Chinese money. The bipartisan relationship between China and Africa has been very beneficial to both sides so far.
What are you talking about? Sri Lanka and Malaysia both used China to build ports and when they defaulted on the loans the Chinese seized control of them which was their intention all along. I will bet that this Kenyan railroad will later be owned completely by China.
@@rabbit251 That is a lie. As i have stated China did not took over the port in Sri Lanka but the Sri Lankan govt decided to hand over 70% ownership of the port for a 99 year lease and in return they won't have to pay the loan back thus use the money to finance other thing whilst at the same time keeping 30% of the revenue made from the port. If you ask me that is a pretty good deal as the port is going to bring a lot of development. Plus China have not seized control of any ports in Malaysia. Research it.
At least 5 African nations will boom in 10 years time with good connectivities like railroads, internets, schools( China built 20,000 schools in Africa ) , airports( China built 5 airports in Africa)...etc.
More low end manufacturings will be in Africa soon. China already open industrial estate in Africa to employ Africans.
Teaching Africans to bulit stuff is China's main aim.
China -Africa Relationship dated back to the mid 14th century admiral ChengHo's voyage to Africa was welcomed , animals like giraffes and Zebra were gifted to China. Later in the 80s, Zhou En lai and Jiang Jeming visited Africa to sign an agreement to help some of the African nations, all these are archived. It could be hidden , need to do a deep dive.
It's going to be a massive benefit for Africa to have the same rail gauge all over the place. 1435mm is also used in large parts of Europe and the rest of the world so they're going to have a broad choice for future purchases.
No it won’t
They won’t be able to pay the debt then there goes railroad
@@nivagtabroc1391 this is not colonial period so stop acting like one
@@humansarecrazybeing5730 no money no railroad
@@nivagtabroc1391 they are not stupid like you and they know how to run their own country. don't lecture other countries how to run their own country
1:08 that was Bandung conference in 1955. Once, Indonesia was so active in promoting peace with organized some conferences like, Asia Africa Conference, Non Block Movement, etc. Thanks to our founding father, Soekarno.
Collaboration on a scale like this is so beautiful to see.
Its not collaboration, its a debt trap.
China gives you a fat loan and builds infrastructure, CHina now has control over you because of the money you owe. If you default, CHina siezies the assets in your nation directly.
It is economic colonialism
@@quillo2747 enough hypocrisy
@@quillo2747 stop acting like your ancestors coloniser 😂
@@quillo2747 you do realise that pretty much everyone collaborates with China on how to build railways now right? *They have 71 kilometres of it for crying out loud!!!*
They mastered keeping clean and reliable services which benefit economies, not bankrupt them. Keep your “evil leftist agenda” and personal idealism politics out of this, please. I have spam filtering enabled, and replies of that type will be ignored.
You're forgetting that Ethiopia has been going through a civil war for the past year which has paralyzed a lot of economic activity. It is no wonder that the train system is not getting enough passengers and freight to turn a profit.
SO many western apologists just dont understand long term vision and are only speaking of short term debt , these projects are probably the first projects in Africa since colonial rule ended, it is providing vital connectivity .
They did terrible things to Africans, so they believe China will do the same 🤣 they just don’t understand there is a win win solution without colonialism.
Ah yes CPEC has really been useful. And Sri Lanka's port is completely under their own control, no lease of 99 years to some foreign nation.
@@HELLO7657 🤣🤣🤣 what a joke
Because they can, it's not like we know how to do it... We still use spikes to hold our track down. In fact, I would love China to come to the USA and build our railway.
I have driven by car between Nairobi and Mombasa, the railway is a seriously massive improvement for transporting goods between these two major cities.
Sadly I will miss the old worldly charm of the old train with the silver sleeper service, we went on the train for our honeymoon; it was so quaint, lucky we were in no hurry, it took 13 hours.
I can understand
Old and slow railway seems not make much money,sadly they may all be replaced
Yeah how long to drive vs train 🚆 🤔
I hope they kept maybe some of it for heritage rail tourism purposes.
@@nurainiarsad7395 in Kenya we have a museum filled with the old colonial trains. Its pretty cool actually
I certainly hope to see high-speed rail in Africa before in California.
In Africa, every 60 seconds, a minute passes
I appreciate that you tell us the truth.
Together we can stop this
Thank you Jamal, very cooll!
When you type, words happen.
Wait, wot？
One of the biggest infrastructure projects in the world and the biggest in Africa is the Lagos to Calabar Railway funded by China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd. (CRCC).
Its estimated cost is $11.92b dollars. The estimated completion date is 2027
The project will include the construction of 1402km of line, as well as 22 stations and ancillary facilities, administrative space, and level crossings. It will connect the largest Nigerian city, Lagos to the southwest region of Calabar which is near the border with Cameroon. This is a relatively new project after only gaining approval on 4th August 2021.
Very costly.
More videos from Africa please,happy to see some highlights on the Kenyan sgr project.
Indeed. Africa will tomorrow be what China is today - the world engine of growth.
@@brendanfitzsimons1282 true
Videos za hawa watu zi hukuwa ignorant sana.
Chinese workers get the high pay and leadership position on projects, of cause, Chinese is the expert and skillful to build railway. What do you expect?
Great to see Africa feature on this channel. It would have been useful to discuss the colonial railway programmes and their legacy of creating disconnected economic ecosystems as the focus then was predominantly on resource extraction. The local demographics were greatly affected then (ref South Asian labourers and subsequent communities) and are also changing now due to the Chinese model of exporting their workforce for large capital projects. I think putting these factors on the table would give more context of the current situation in the region for those who are not familiar with it.
This is not a political channel, but it would be interesting to watch.
"Chinese model of exporting their workforce"
"Chinese state owned critical infrastructure"
"Chinese minority who dictates to local Africans how things should be done"
"Chinese profit from the labour of Africans"
gee sure sounds like we have a description for such relationship dynamics... it just escapes me
@@tunxlaw Agreed, I know it’s a fine line and I appreciate the limitations. The B1M however did recognise and touch on it briefly as such large engineering/infrastructure projects are political by nature.
It is still resource extraction. The Chinese want their cheap labor, because Chinese labor is getting too expensive in manufacturing.
While I love new infrastructure as much as the next person, I wouldn't really be liking the overall move of China eventually taking big chunks of Africa, its infrastructure and potentially its resources hostage with debt. Infrastructure is good, yes, but China being, well, "China", makes people raise doubts.
Stop being racist China is perfect 🇨🇳
China already got one of Sri Lanka's Ports to service debt
I agree. China has been raping Africa for many years. This will only make it easier for them.
@@googleuser3163 Stop being nationalistic, China is far from perfect.
@@googleuser3163 Learn to stop discriminating every american as fat,obese and dumb before calling others racist
China's vision looking clear to become only and one superpower through build public development projects rather than involve in War
I didn't understand why some people doesn't want other country to develop.they will do whatever they can to stop their development,i just don't understand why...jist like the European enjoy life African want to enjoy their life too...if you can't help African development pliz don't try to stop or destroy their development
Railroads are not only important to boost trade, thats even the shallow boon. Beyond trade, people of different regions get to access people of other ethnicity, get to work with them, get to befriend them, and get to marry them.
This have enormous consequence especially for people in Africa which its ethnic rivarly is one of its biggest downfall. It is a lot harder to hate each other when you get to know each other.