Twenty-eight year-old Mundia Muyobo used to work as a part-time tutor at a school after graduating as an electronics major in university. One and a half years ago, he was hired by ZTE, one of China's leading telecommunication equipment providers, becoming a "white collar" employee working in one of the best office buildings in Zambia's capital city of Lusaka, Mukuba Pension House.

Muyobo says he is quite satisfied with his current job, not only because he can earn much more money than before, but also because, as an accounts manager dealing with marketing, he has become more confident in himself and envisions a brighter future with a career in ZTE.

The company ventured into Zambia in 1998 and now combines about 20 Chinese and 50 local employees, with five locals in the management team.

Muyobo is one member of the team. Like many others who work in Chinese enterprises in Zambia as a part of the management, he also bears some responsibility in bridging the cultural gap between the Chinese and local staff.

"At the beginning, it is very hard to communicate with our Chinese colleagues, but now we are improving and are more interactive," he said, adding that his Chinese colleagues have also become good friends of his.

Fu Yunji, a young Chinese engineer with ZTE, commended his local colleagues, saying they are cooperative and professional, and the company, by involving local employees in the management team, has in part, brought about a harmony inside the company, especially between Chinese and local employees.

Zambian Minister of Labor and Social Security Mutale Nalumango told Xinhua that she was happy with what the Chinese companies have brought to Zambia and what they are doing there.

She said involvement of local employees in the management was " cardinal" since they could act as interpreters between cultures thus minimizing the strife and disharmony between the investors and the local workforce.

Li Tie, a Chinese businessman who came to Zambia eight years ago is now the owner of a dozen supermarkets and chain stores selling a wide range of commodities from clothes to household appliances. Localization of management is common among his 300 staff. And a local manager earns a monthly wage of up to two million kwacha (about 600 US dollars), a decent salary in a country where per capita GDP is no more than 500 dollars.

Li's business is not limited to the capital. He has set up chain stores in several big cities like Chipata, Mufulira, Chingola across the southern African country and is aiming to further expand his business turf. That means more job opportunities will be created in a country where unemployment rate stands alarmingly high.

Statistics from the Zambia Investment Center indicate that the 160-plus Chinese companies in the country are employing at least 10,000 local workers in various industries such as mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and construction. The biggest investment by Chinese in Zambia, Chambezi Mining Company, has more than 2,000 local miners. They might not earn as much as Muyobo, but a stable job with an above-average wage is still a thing to flaunt in Zambia, where the unemployment rate is as high as 50 percent.

As business competition in China increases, Chinese companies choose to expand abroad. Africa, with a vast potential market untapped, provides many opportunities.

In the meantime, African countries like Zambia, where lack of technology makes it difficult to translate the abundant resources into real GDP growth, have enacted various preferential policies to attract foreign money to the continent.

Official figures show that in the first ten months of 2005, Chinese companies invested 175 million U.S. dollars in African countries. This accounts for one-tenth of the total investment China has made in Africa over the years. In order to encourage more Chinese companies to invest in Africa, the Chinese government has signed investment protection agreements with 28 African countries.

China has taken a further step in echoing the African countries ' calls. The Chinese government issued the African Policy Paper last Thursday, encouraging more Chinese investment in Africa. The paper is in view of promoting consolidation of China-Africa relations in the long-term and bringing the mutually-beneficial cooperation to a new stage.

Muyobo said he had every reason to believe his company, ZTE, would make a success story in Zambia and his future would be brightened by the opportunity that comes along.

Source: Xinhua