By Harry C. Alford & Kay DeBow

Finally, we have a White House that has decided to call out China for the sleezy things it does while doing business in Africa. To the Chinese government the African Continent is a big, whore to be abused and pimped at every opportunity. You can travel to any nation within Africa and there will be one thing that is constant. China trading interests and influence is there at every airport, many construction projects, railways, dams and various other infrastructure projects. There practices are plain and simple: “Rape, hustle, steal, swindle, corrupt at every opportunity that is presented.” Theirs is to take from Africa – not improve or advance it. If challenged – sling cash, be arrogant and keep on trucking. No one is going to stop them.

It is a living nightmare. The more we complain and scream; the more we are ignored. What we heard during a conference call from the White House last week was simply sweet “music” to our ears. A new, fresh policy towards the African continent is being implemented. America is going to set the example of how to do business via good, honest policy and strict standards. We are going to call out China and show the African governments how good and productive honest business is. Africa, three times the population of North America and the richest natural resources land on earth is overdue to take its natural place in the world. Believe it or not, President Trump has the vision, courage and confidence to make this happen. Brothers and sisters the time has finally come.

We need to show you a few examples of what we are talking about. First, let’s go to Ghana and reflect on a major China disaster. President George W. Bush set up a program to reward African nations that displayed good governance. The reward was known as the Millennium Challenge Account. One of the first winners was Ghana under the leadership of President John Kufuor. Ghana was award $800 million for an infrastructure project. They proposed to build a new national highway system for the nation. It was approved, and the George W. Bush Highway was funded. Guess who got the contract to build it? It was China! Our program, our idea, our funding and it went to Chinese interests.

That was the beginning. Chinese firms entered the nation to build the highway. They hired strictly Chinese engineering firms replete with their own subcontractors. The laborers were basically Chinese and, apparently, were prison inmates working off their sentences. As these foreign convicts would finish their sentences they would be let go – right there in the outback of Ghana. Not being able to return to their homeland they would blend into the “bush” and live near rural villages – pillaging the local population.

The Chinese construction companies would choose some of the roughest land to build the highway. When the path would go in front of a mountain, rather than go around the mountain they would dig right through it. Why? The scheme was simple. Ghana’s land is full of rich precious minerals. Colonial traders nicknamed the country “The Gold Coast”. It was a big scheme to plunder the soil for its minerals; process them along the highways; load them on 747 tankers and fly them to China for processing. China has a monopoly on the world’s richest minerals – this is how that happens – the pillaging of Africa.

The highway was finally completed but it came at great expense via the loss of precious metals and the social costs of having Chinese convicts settle in rural areas building “bootleg” gold mines via squatting on various properties and prey on the rural populations of the nation (rape was a common occurrence). This isn’t some novel we read in a book – it really happened, and we have pictures and news articles to prove it.

If this happened in Ghana please imagine what goes on in the Congo, Uganda and other less civilized nations around the continent. China is pimping Africa in ways that resemble Armageddon. We, America, must begin to check such activity if we want to be a true world leader.

Therefore, we have high hopes for this new Power Africa Initiative. We can set the example of good governance and stand up to the international “bully” and “exploiter” known as the Republic of China. Africa is our Motherland and if we don’t get in there and call out these atrocities -who is? God is on our side so let’s get busy.

Mr. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce ®. Ms. DeBow is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of the NBCC. Website: www.nationalbcc.org Emails: halford@nationalbcc.org kdebow@nationalbcc.org