“Should we be scared of the Chinese expansion?”

People seem to be scared of the fact that China is a fast growing economy and they want to expand in any way they can; I even read an article in “Le Jeune Afrique” with a big heading “Should we Africans be scared of the Chinese expansion?” What is the big deal? If we reach in the near future the economic growth they do have, I am sure we will behave the same way.

I am firmly convinced that it is more an opportunity than a threat; effectively, the Chinese want to invest in the Malagasy society and they are entering all business fields they can, why don’t we behave the same? I think it is time for us to be proactive and stop being lazy and start learning Chinese and also look for the opportunity that a land containing more than a billion people can offer to us. No later than yesterday, I visited the websites of the International Finance Corporation and the United Nations, and there are vacant posts be it in the U.S or in China related to the fact that you should know Chinese language or at least the culture. We all did learn English when we started to realize that it is taking over the world, and let’s face the challenge and learn new things too. Why is it that only the Chinese is learning our culture and our way of living? It must be a two-way communication.

Despite the fear of new things that we do not control and the fact that Chinese products had been associated with poor quality in the past, let’s face the fact that it has changed. Actually, there are several ongoing huge projects that the Chinese government is financing in Madagascar, these include the construction of our first ever ICC or International Convention Center, the construction of a 5 star hotel, and the sponsoring of school kits that are much needed by the Malagasy pupils.