The number of Chinese nationals living and working in Kenya has hugely grown over the past two decades. Once a rarity on our streets likely to draw curious glances, the Chinese are now as common as ‘foreigners’ of Caucasian or South Asian extraction who have lived, worked and settled amongst us for more than a century.
Like those who came before them as colonists, migrant labourers or expatriates, the Chinese, too, are making a significant impact in settling down, establishing themselves in trade and commerce and setting up residential areas, shopping centres and other places where their culture, language, food and lifestyle is certainly infused into the melting pot that is Kenya.
As long as Kenya remains a dynamic, cosmopolitan, open, vibrant and welcoming society, the Chinese are here to stay. They must be treated no differently from the British, Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, Ethiopians, Americans, Germans, Ugandans, Italians, Rwandans and other races and nationalities who have made Kenya their home or place of doing business.
Once in a while, some shortsighted jingoists unable to compete in what is an increasingly global and borderless marketplace will stoke xenophobic flames. We have seen Kenyans living and working in places such as Tanzania and South Africa subjected to such treatment. We also have a history of pointing fingers at Indians, Somalis, Britons and other successful business people we think are eating our lunch.
Affordable items
That is what informs recent protests by the “Nyamakima business community” against a Chinese-owned retail outlet they say is undercutting them. China Square has become a magnet for shoppers seeking affordable items that have traditionally imported and distributed by the Nyamakima traders, who are angry that somebody is importing and selling the goods at lower prices, but lighting fires against the competition is misplaced. They may feel aggrieved but understand the dynamism of trade and modify their business models to compete within the new realities.
When the Nyamakima traders captured that segment of the market, they, too, were a disruptive force that undercut existing business by flooding the streets with products—never mind the quality—much cheaper than those available then in formal retail outlets in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, Kakamega, Voi and other towns. They have no grounds to complain when a new entrant gives them a dose of their own medicine.
Even if the Nyamakima traders might have legitimate grouses, more worrying is the way the government is responding. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Trade minister Moses Kuria have to be reminded that they are Cabinet Secretaries of the Government of the Republic of Kenya. They are not ministers for central Kenya, or “Mount Kenya business community”.
When members of the Cabinet reduce themselves to serving ethno-nationalist constituencies, we are lost as a nation. They would be well advised to resign and seek election to county assemblies, where they can better advance narrow interests.
In pushing for closure of China Square on dubious grounds that foreigner investors should not engage at the retail lever, Kuria is treading on slippery ground. There is no law to back his dubious reasoning, and the same government he serves has issued the necessary permits and licences for the establishment of the business he wants shut.
His order that Kenyatta University kick out the China Square investor and lease the space to the Nyamakima traders is arrant nonsense, for their issue is not location, but noise against more efficient competition. The warped logic put on display should then dictate that America, British, Japanese, South African, German, Indian, Turkish and other foreign retail outlets operating in Kenya also be shut down. After all government policy cannot be simply a reflection of Sinophobia.
Clear policies
The saga has seen the usual confusion and lack of clear policies and strategies in a government that runs on roadside declarations, political expediency and overdose of selfish personal interests. The purported crackdown on counterfeits at China Square is also self-defeating: The Nyamakima fellows trade in exactly the same type of goods, which Kuria is on record as declaring Kenya an open field for!
Instead of impotent knee-jerk reactions, let President William Ruto’s administration engage China on reciprocity for Kenyan business people to set up shop in Beijing. The last time I was out there, I learnt that hundreds of Kenyan traders and investors in Guangzhou and other major sources of goods live life on the edge.
They are unable to get work permits, business licences and residency permits, so every three months must exit China to renew their short-term visitor or tourist visas and re-enter the country afresh. They are at the mercy of exploitative relationships with Chinese business ‘partners’ who provide cover for their enterprises.
They complained that the Kenyan embassy in Beijing does not help them. BY DAILY NATION