Many heavily-reported Chinese projects do not amount to much in Africa.

“If you told banks you’re going to Africa, it was easy to get a loan.” But now investors are aware that projects in Africa can take a long time and cost a lot more money than they expected - Chinese Investor

For example, a widely touted Chinese investment of over $1 billion in a 3m hectare palm-oil plantation (an area roughly the size of Hawaii) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But when work started the Chinese found that there were no roads, the river was barely navigable and villagers were hostile. When a small amount of land was planted the crop was immediately stolen. The project soon disappeared.

“In China, a company comes in, makes an arrangement with local government, and the government delivers.” In Africa, they then discover that government promises to build infrastructure, provide power or supply land are not as credible as they thought. Public land turns out to be occupied by squatters, who may have farmed it for generations; private land may not be owned by the people selling it. Local politicians do not accept deals struck by national ones.

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