Dragon vs Lion

The rise of global regional blocks has made politics and economics even more interconnected. And Africa is unfortunately still situated at the bottom of this global change. Africa in general has long ignored the importance and the rise of globalisation, which is reflected in Africa’s unstable ecomomy. This lack of acknowledgment of globalisation is the reason why Africa is battling to survive the global economic pressures. Many disagree with this argument. The counter-argument is that globalisation is in fact the cause of Africa’s backwardness. This is a long debated argument.

But how is Africa going to gain from this argument? Globalisation is inevitable. Rather than arguing about it, why not seek the great opportunities of this global phenomenon? Take for instance Mr. Dlamini’s explanation of the ever-growing Chinese rising. There are problems facing Africa and in particular South Africa due to the integration of China. Take for example the SA textile industry. Almost 37 000 jobs have been lost in 2003 and 2004. Nonetheless, seeing that it is so important for our continent’s economy, it must continue to invest and retain partnership with Chinese businesses.

So instead of fearing the impact of Chinese integration into African markets, embrace the opportunities that it holds. Here are some aspects to take into account:

• China has the biggest national market in the world.
  
• There is a growing need in China for mining equipment and technology and South Africa’s core skills, seeing that China needs more modernization of their mining sector.
  
• South Africa’s skills in the infrastructural and engineering sectors can help China with their plan of developing western China.
  
• The South African service sector is more advanced than that of China’s. Areas such as financial-, information-, operation management services and so forth can expand their businesses and benefit from entering China.
  
• And South Africa is seeking great investment from China, especially in the areas of construction, telecommunications and mining.

Globalisation is moving companies and business fast and far around the world, thus the notion of “global business standards” changes from Western to multi-national. Africa should integrate itself more deeply into China because China can help us think in different business ways.

This fuels my belief in Mr. Dlamini’s second lesson for us: “Think and act globally, regionally and locally”. If we could understand the global world, we can learn valuable lessons from the way other markets, companies and people work. In turn this will have a valuable effect on our regional and local environments, where more opportunities will be recognised and taken advantage of.