The  Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Mr Alhassan Andani, has called on African countries to adopt a long-term approach and set up their own criteria in dealings with China.

He said China represented a good alternative source of cheaper financing for Africa’s development but Africa had to sharpen its skills and clearly map out how it intended to benefit from its blossoming relationship with China.

“African leaders need to complement Beijing’s long-term view with their own perspective and they should not waste massive capital and investment and ensure that local infrastructure is built,” Mr Andani stressed this when he presented a paper on “China’s Special Relationship: Emerging Market Investment into Ghana” at the just-ended Second Business Roundtable in Accra.

The conference, organised by the Economist Group (publishers of The Economist newspaper), provided the platform for international and local economic experts to engage the government on the direction of the country’s economy.

Mr Andani urged Africa not to make the mistake of the past when it mortgaged its very existence to the early Europeans who colonised many countries on the continent, stressing that “the Chinese will meet you at the point of your expertise”.

He suggested the establishment of an African consensus on what was expected from China, saying, “Consensus will reduce the opportunities for China to exploit divisions and gaps among African countries.”

He said leaders of the continent should formulate a proactive engagement strategy and engage China through regional organisations rather than bilateral relations.

Mr Andani said people on the continent had learnt lessons from its past and skills had been developed, noting that in that new enlightenment Africa should confront China, giving it terms that would favour and suit Africa’s needs.

“China is here for the long haul and we should learn how to deal with them; it is important to adopt a long-term approach, considering implications for the next 20 to 30 years,” he suggested.

Mr Andani has had a lot of dealings with the Chinese since the parent company of Stanbic Bank, Standard Bank of Africa, formed a strategic partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

The relationship means Standard Bank, which is positioning itself as the best emerging markets bank, facilitates the financing arrangements of the incursions most Chinese companies are making into Africa.

Mr Andani said local businesses, for instance, had to sharpen their capacities to be able to participate in business deals with China.

Chinese imports from Ghana have grown from $5 million in 1999 to $94 million in 2008, while its exports to the country have surged from $110 million in 1999 to $1.734 billion in 2008.

In 2006, China’s President Hu Jintao announced a target of $100 billion by 2010 for bilateral trade between China and African countries, from a level of $10 billion in 2000.

China, which is now Africa’s third largest trading partner after the European Union and the US, exceeded its $100 billion bilateral trade target with Africa, reaching $107 billion in 2008.

Mr Andani urged Africa to take advantage of its new relationship with China in the interest of the continent’s economic development.
“African governments must use this historic opportunity to capture capital in order to diversify African economies and reduce aid dependency. China’s interest in the continent’s oil and mineral wealth should not be squandered,” he stressed.

For her part, the Trade Minister, Ms Hannah Tetteh, said Ghana had just started re-emphasising technical and vocational training to raise the skill level of the people.

She said the country was also developing a second edition of its Private Sector Development Policy which would make the sector very competitive in the global marketplace.

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