The Ghana Gas Company has revealed that it has saved $3.5 million a month after replacing 50 Chinese engineers with homegrown talent at the Atuabo plant in the Western Region.
The news was announced by the company’s chief executive officer, Dr. Ben Asante. Officials carried out a consultation to review what changes needed to be made. Following the consultation, 50 local engineers were trained and hired. The Chinese engineers were relieved of their duties.
According to GhanaWeb, Asante said of the new hires, “they are brilliant and so far we have not had any incidents at the plant.”
Ghana’s ties to China run deep.
Ghana instituted diplomatic relations with China soon after becoming a Republic in July 1960. President Kwame Nkrumah and Chairman Mao Zedong fostered a meaningful connection and bolstering Sino-Ghana relations.
In 1959, W.E.B Du Bois made a speech during a visit to Beijing where he said: “China is flesh of your flesh and blood of your blood. You know America and France and Britain to your sorrow. Now know the Soviet Union and its allied nations, but particularly know China.”
As China’s influence continues to grow in Africa, many remain skeptical of its motives, so much so that other nations have upped the ante when it comes to support their support of the continent.
France recently expressed its intentions to revise its policy on aid to Africa as part of a strategy to counter China’s rising geopolitical influence on the continent. China is currently Africa’s most significant mutual trading partner. Before the pandemic hit, the value of Sino-African trade reached $192 billion in 2019.
The U.S. is also eyeing China through a distrustful lens.
Last week in an interview with The Associated Press, U.S. Gen. Stephen Townsend said Beijing is looking to establish a large navy port capable of hosting submarines or aircraft carriers on Africa’s western coast.
He claims that China has approached several African countries with the intention of establishing a naval facility.
“They’re looking for a place where they can rearm and repair warships. That becomes militarily useful in conflict,” said Townsend, who heads U.S. Africa Command. “They’re a long way toward establishing that in Djibouti. Now they’re casting their gaze to the Atlantic coast and wanting to get such a base there.”
