If you own a mobile phone, there is a good chance that the battery of your phone contains lithium from Chinese owned mines in Africa. Having won the hearts of many African leaders, the Chinese have moved in at an aggressive pace and secured access to copper, oil and other mineral riches. One of the countries that has seen the rise in Chinese businesses over the past few years is Zambia, a country rich in copper whose price has slumped by around 40% since early September.

The presence of the Chinese in this relatively politically stable country which has been independent for 44 years is not new. It is a well documented fact that during the liberation struggle, the Chinese helped build the 1,100 mile long railway which stretched from Landlocked Zambia to the Port of Dar es Salaam Tanzania thus reducing dependence on railway lines to South African Ports during the apartheid era.

The Chinese helped influence African socialism at a time when African regimes when developing their own brand of socialism as a way of claiming a final victory over European imperial regimes which were mainly capitalist.

The international recession of the 1970’s left countries such as Zambia and The Democratic Republic of Congo with a slump in commodities such as copper. African socialism was clearly unsustainable and lead to the collapse of many structures.

The 1990’s saw a change in leadership in Zambia and a shift in the way businesses were being run. A good number of state corporations were privatized living large sections of the population unemployed. Several years on, the Chinese have been brought in with the hope of stimulating modernization. This has not been greeted with enthusiasm.

Many Africans are beginning to question the motives of the Chinese as they spread their tentacles deep into the continent. Scores of Chinese laborers continue to arrive as well as cheap quality goods which are flooding the local markets. As accusations of the flouting of environmental laws and labor laws fly around, massive injections for further investment on African soil continue to be pumped in. Will Africa be able to take a leap if they are being flooded with cheap goods which threaten local industries.

Not everyone is persuaded by the argument that Africans have the right to chose their own trading partners. Critics claim that there is blind optimism on the part of Africans at their failure to realize the “parasitic” nature of the Afro-Chinese relationship. The imbalance in t relationship means one of the parties - China, had an advantage over the other.

Some defiant voices across Africa argue that for the continent to flourish, Africans must help themselves. There is a feeling that China treats Africans as equals while the west treats Africans like children by giving them conditions before moving in to invest or give aid. The west is seen as having sour grapes over the loss of a great empire which they saw as “rightfully” theirs.

There is, however, a good case for concerns being raised by the west. Structures put in place should indeed be subject to international scrutiny.

It is now evident that the Chinese are adopting a capitalist approach - an ideology they helped the Africans fight against.

There are signs that the impact on ordinary life has been enormous. At least 54 people died in a Chinese-run factory, for a small country like Zambia with a population of 11 million this is too much. Scores of people continue to work in hazardous environments with no proper protective clothing on a salary of $30 a month. In a small town in the Central Province of Zambia, people are dying of lead poisoning from the open mines that were abandoned by Chinese. The elite continue to line their pockets with wads of cash as the Chinese bring business.

Does Africa have to go through this as a last chance to globalization or are we seeing a replay of colonialism?