A stroll through Dar es Salaam’s bustling Kariakoo market bears testimony to China’s impact on Africa.

Mingling among the traditional Swahili mix of Indians, Arabs and Africans are more and more Chinese faces, both buying and selling.

Next to stalls over-flowing with spices, fresh fruit, such as paw paws and mangoes, and squeezed juices are new Chinese outlets crammed with cheap goods ranging from plastic flowers to cheap sun-glasses. Veiled Arab women eagerly sift through mounds of Chinese-manufactured underwear under the watchful gaze of Chinese women, many of whom speak the local Swahili language, but no English.

“I have been here two years now, I am from Beijing and sell textiles, jeans and T-shirts primarily,” a young woman, Juan Juan, told The Times through a translator. “It is a very good business. Tanzanian people are very friendly, but not good business people.”

On second and third floor balconies of newly-constructed cement-like buildings, businessmen chat animatedly, surrounded by dozens of card board boxes covered with Chinese lettering. Everything from pad locks to plastic shoes is manufactured in China, creating resentment among some local traders.

“Everything they make is so cheap, it is subsidised – it is ruining what little manufacturing we have here,” said Hussein Kamote. “In less than 10 years, there will be no local industry left. Our governments don’t care – they are blinded by offers to build infra-structure.”

On the edge of the market stand rows and rows of the new motor-bikes and scooters which have become a common sight in cities across Africa over the last five years. In Uganda’s capital, Kampala, young boys have turned them into scooter taxis and weave in and out of the slow moving, often stationary traffic.

Africans working for the Chinese often complain about long hours and low pay. Disputes, however, are rare with both sides slowly learning to live and work together. Unlike European ex-pats, the Chinese live and work alongside ordinary Africans and even occasionally socialise.

Critics say Chinese traders also deal in drugs and prostitution and peddle counterfeit products alongside legal merchandise. Local officials dismiss such claims, saying they are largely prompted by frustrations from locals who are simply unable to compete.

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