Investors put their lives on the line

African Governments must do more to safeguard the lives and property of tourists and business people

Two recent attacks on Chinese citizens in Kenya have once again raised serious concerns about the safety of Chinese who choose to work and invest in Africa.

Last month a Chinese couple was robbed while they were on their way to a supermarket in Nairobi. The husband was shot dead and the wife was severely injured. Both were working for a company that is building houses.

A few days later a China Central Television employee was robbed at gunpoint in a busy street in Nairobi in broad daylight. She lost all her money and ended up with a scar on her forehead because of the pressure of a gun that was held against her.

Both attacks have shocked Chinese people in Nairobi, most of whom have simply come to Africa in search of greener pastures. The attacks are being used as lesson to potential visitors to and investors in the continent.

The attacks on the Chinese are the latest in a long series of such attacks in Africa. The Chinese often carry large sums of cash, rather than using credit cards like most Westerners.

Using bank cards does not seem to agree with the Chinese psyche, in addition to which using banks often requires a degree of fluency in English that many of the Chinese in Africa lack.

Another reason that Chinese make attractive targets for robbers is that in the main they do not resist, feeling that that is the best way of ensuring they come to no harm.

Once such attacks occur, most Chinese are reluctant to go to the police.

Last October I was the victim of an armed robbery as I was heading home after dining at a restaurant, a walk of just three minutes. Reporting the robbery to police, I was shocked to be asked, "Couldn't you have used your kung fu expertise?"

Of course, Chinese - and everyone else - is ill-advised to carry large amounts of cash around, wherever they be, but of course that does not excuse robbers. It is clear, too, that police forces in Africa need to do more to protect foreigners and their property.

Last year more than 50,000 Chinese visited Kenya, either as tourists or investors, the Chinese embassy in Nairobi says, and the numbers show no sign of abating.

That makes it all the more important for African governments to ensure that everything is being done to safeguard their lives and their property. Even though landlocked African countries such as Ethiopia and Rwanda are not well endowed with natural resources and have poor transport, they still manage to attract a lot of Chinese investment, and that is because they are relatively stable countries and security is good.

Chinese have a reputation of being adventous in Africa because they are prepared to explore regions that many Westerners shun, and to do business in them, sensing that when the dust settles in any unstable place, it is there that opportunities are to be found.

The risk is that as attacks on Chinese rise and are widely reported, their compatriots will decide that going to Africa is simply not worth the risk.

Very few of these crimes of which Chinese are the victims have been covered by Africa's traditional media, which means African authorities are under no pressure to act.

However, it is not up to those authorities alone to do something to allay the fears of potential tourists and investors. Chinese diplomatic missions and business groups also have a role to play.

If they all do their jobs properly, the Chinese may get the protection they expect, thus feeling reassured, and Chinese investment will continue to flow into the continent.

The author is China Daily's correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/12/2013 page10)