The high-level visit to Namibia by President Hu Jintao and his delegation on Monday is no ordinary diplomatic and trade safari, because China has much to offer to Namibia. Contrary to claims from some quarters intent on promoting Anglo-Saxon and other interests, China’s role as an anti-imperialist counterweight to the West is well documented. All persons who are guided by truth need to look no further than China’s involvement in ambitious projects such as its construction of the Tanzam railway line linking Tanzania and Zambia, while some 15ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 Africans have studied in China. During the 90s, Sino-African bilateral trade rose by a whopping 700 percent and, since the first China-Africa Forum in Beijing in 2000, more than 40 trade agreements were signed, doubling trade to more than US$20 billion over the four years to the end of 2004. And by the end of 2005, projections were that China was expected to become Africa’s third most important trading partner, behind the US and France and ahead of the UK. Hundreds of Chinese state companies involved in Africa have invested not only in booming sectors such as mining, fishing, precious woods, telecommunications, but also in others that the West has neglected as being less profitable. In Ethiopia, China is engaged in telecommunications; it has done work for Gecamine, the state-run mining company in the resource-rich DRC; in Kenya it mended the road between Mombasa and Nairobi and it launched Nigeria’s first space satellite. As an incentive to Chinese nationals, several African countries, among them Namibia with its world-renowned Etosha National Park which was officially designated as a tourist destination by the Chinese government. And with the above perspective, we would now like to focus our attention on what other benefits we could derive from this Asian ally. Historically it is a well-chronicled fact that China gave birth to one of the four greatest civilizations of the world, and it has a recorded history of about 4000 years. It only trailed behind the West after the Industrial Revolution. And so, Namibia has so much to learn from this giant which in recent years has rapidly reclaimed its economic place and is gradually becoming a global leader. Because the amount of goods it exports eclipses its imports, China now has the largest foreign reserves which just the other day exceeded a trillion US dollars. With Vision 2030, the economic blueprint that could make us a developed country in some 23 years from now, the sky could be the limit in as far as developing our industrial base is concerned. We have so much wealth, vis-ÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚ -vis uranium, gold, zinc, diamonds, copper and cobalt, yet we prefer to export these minerals in a very raw form. Since China’s energy needs are immense by any yardstick, thanks to its unparalleled economic and social growth, and Namibia on the other hand faces a disruptive electricity deficit, the two allies could complement each other with what they have. Namibia is among the top producers of uranium, and its giant Asian ally has not only the means but also the capability and the expertise to build uranium reactors that can produce power which could meet our domestic and industrial needs and thus reverse the deficit. Apart from our prizing-winning Windhoek Lager, we could also seek Chinese expertise to produce other export-quality products for sale to Europe, America and even China. While some nations do not have markets, we are blessed in the sense that we have access to so many overseas markets, but apparently our produce is insufficient to fill these quotas. Our industrial base is still very narrow but, taking into consideration that we have one of the best road and telecommunications infrastructure on the African continent, we should do more to widen our industrial base. Because the more industries we have, the less the joblessness and the bigger the tax base for government and so, a win-win scenario. Though we have two deserts – the Namib along the coast and the Kalahari in the east – these count for nothing because there are still wider tracts of arable land that could be farmed. And China, despite its billion-plus population, is able to feed its people and it even produces a surplus for export to other countries. While Namibia, despite having such a sparse population and vast tracts of fertile land plus the advantage of the unpolluted Kunene, Kavango, Linyanti, Kwando, Mashi, Chobe and Zambezi Rivers, is still haunted by food insecurity and has to import maize, wheat, tomatoes, potatoes and spinach. We could, in the spirit of bilateral cooperation, ask our generous Chinese allies to help transform Namibia into a bigger agriculture exporter instead of being an importer of spinach. There is so much we still need to do such as producing our own tomatoes, cabbages, onions, poultry, eggs, dairy products, clothing, shoes, stationery and, with the right approach and focus, importing some of these things could become history. Our Chinese brothers and sisters could help us turn parts of our deserts green. Welcome, Mr President!