Post #299

👋 China. Go Out. How China’s policy of encouraging overseas investment created lunar landscapes across Africa 🌍 In the 1990s, China launched its “Go Out” policy, encouraging state-owned and private entities to expand abroad in search of resources and investment opportunities. One of the main drivers was the need to secure mineral supplies at low prices to sustain a slowing domestic economy. “We need to implement a ‘going outside’ strategy, encouraging enterprises with comparative advantages to make investments abroad, to establish processing operations, to exploit foreign resources with local partners, to contract for international engineering projects, and to increase the export of labor.” — Zhu Rongji, Premier of the State Council Report to the National People’s Congress, 2001 👥 Alongside state companies, thousands of ordinary fortune-seekers from also headed overseas, emboldened by the prospect of “quick enrichment” amid rising gold prices. 🌍 The influx of Chinese enthusiasts was most visible in West Africa, especially Ghana. Estimates suggest that between 2008 and 2013, more than 50,000 Chinese nationals entered the country to participate in illegal gold mining. ⚙️ But Chinese diggers were notable not only for their numbers. The “Go Out” policy allowed them to bring in heavy machinery on a massive scale — something previously unseen in illegal gold mining. ⏩ The scheme was simple: 🔸A major Chinese investor arrives in Country X with heavy equipment backed by the Chinese government and its loans under the "Going Out" policy 🔸Part of that equipment is then written off and quietly sold to illegal groups 🔸Those groups use it to level forests and dig enormous pits nearby. 🏁 As a result, local artisanal miners are either pushed out or join the Chinese operations, and the soil is left contaminated with mercury and lead all across the continent. #PolicyReview Devils Below