Making Ethiopia Great Again

China has a dismal record in Africa when it comes to job creation. I hinted at that by suggesting the only job they create with this for Ethiopians is shoelacer so they can skirt duties.
Many African countries have learned this and are push

 

If I recall the Chinese have invested $50 billion in Africa.

 

As per my understanding that is still Trump Brand and of course Trump Business,
why is it not being made in Louisiana.
I don't know if I am a liberal, please see my signature below.

 

No. They are an independent business. If you take your car into the auto repair does that mean you own the business?

This Chinese businessman runs factories, and finds clients to give him jobs. Ivanka wants to design shoes, so she sends a picture and a color/fabric swatch to the Chinese businessman, who in turn does sizing and pattern making, purchases materials, and subcontracts with other specialty manufacturers like dyers and buckle or tassle makers. He probably also subcontracts to cutting rooms who buzz out the leather pieces, or someone who makes the heel portion of the shoe. He puts them together in his factory, ships them back to the States, where they are most likely drop shipped to the retail outlets without Ivanka even touching them. That's how all our stuff is made. You might get away with criticizing her for doing business with a guy who moves his factory from China - where labor is getting too expensive -- to Ethiopia, where he can maximize profits.

The problem with that is you'd have to produce a timeline that says she's known this all along. My guess she found out about it the same time you did.

 

I think it's time now to find
US production lines for her design as to align herself with Trumps notions bringing home the job.
It's the Chinese who benefitted with that talent that she do have.

 

Yes. But you are still being simple. Production lines need factories and equipment. We don't even have the EQUIPMENT! It has all been sold to foreign countries. Are you aware, for example, how lace is made? There are only a few big lace making factories in the world, and none of them are here. Even the machines are not made here. Our lumber industry - the big saw mill equipment has been sold to foreign countries. You can't just put your little finger to the corner of your mouth and say, "hmmm, let's make it here!" It all has to be built up again from the bottom up. In the meantime, you have to buy your lace from China.

When Trump says bring it home -- it's a huge job. And those who have no clue on how things are made have never understood what Trump means.

 

So do you mean that Trump's quest to bring the job home is impossible and daunting.

 

No. Please don't put words in my mouth. I'm saying that Trump is completely right that we need to bring manufacturing back to our country. Not because it will make America great again - but because without it, we will forever have to ask a Chinese businessman to make stuff for us, while we have no product and no income. Going back to the example I gave you, notice that one business man with a factory subcontracts to many other businesses which are also independently owned. One factory closes, but 15 companies go out of business. The reverse is also true. Our manufacturing capability has been so devastatingly gutted, it will take some effort to get it up and running. But as they do, there will be so much opportunity for people to start businesses of their own.

Trump is starting with low hanging fruit - the big companies that already have operations here. He is trying to stop them from bleeding out.

 

No I did not, your post connotes negativities of bringing home the job.
But in bold " I think now you're talking",
and it would be nice for Ivanka to assist them with her talents.

 

China wants the raw materials in Africa. Period. They give little or no aid, they buy things or give loans. If they created good jobs for Africans then fine but they don't or rarely do that. Transfer of skills is virtually unheard of unless they are forced to to get what they want.

Let's take where I live, the DR Congo a very mineral rich country.
A while back the Chinese loaned 12 billion US to the DRC. In addition they gave the president a 100 million US to use at his discretion, the president not the country's treasury.
The money is for infrastructure projects and comes from the Chinese national bank. It hires Chinese companies to do the work and pays them directly.

These companies do the materials selection and designing. The Congolese have little or no input on the actual construction so the company can do as shoddy or good a job as they wish and charge as much as they want.

Normally when foreign companies work here they are required to hire Congolese to train for every level of work right up to the engineers. The Chinese were exempted and only hire Congolese to work shovels. No heavy machine drivers, no hydraulics mechanics, no surveyors. No one is being trained directly to be able to sustain the work. When the first road built began to have problems the Chinese had to come back and fix it.

How is the loan being repaid? They were given ownership over several large mines and the profits from the sales go to pay the loans. After the loans are paid then they keep the profits. The problem is they sell the production to themselves at prices that they set. They also control the books where they calculate operating costs to be deducted from the sales. I doubt that the loan will ever be paid off that way.

These things are happening all over Africa and Africa is beginning to understand.

 

Its a similar story in Ethiopia. Lots of cheaply built roads & bridges, a few factories etc. You can see the construction crews everywhere. Not sure how much Chinese money is going into the dam building program. They do hire some locals, but there are also some serious culture/ethnic clashes.

My best mate has spent a decade working all over Sub-Saharan Africa & has seen all of this in country after country. Talking with him & my Ethiopian friends I get the distinct impression that Africa understood pretty much from the start. It isn't like this is the first time foreigners have turned up with truckloads of money & a list of demands. Not even the first time the Chinese have done it. African elites will milk this for all it is worth. Ordinary Africans will get the usual crumbs from the table.