China as a Nation

China doesn’t need Google to win. And after seeing it firsthand, I’m convinced Africa’s obsession with ‘access’ is distracting us from the real game:

PRODUCTION.

I landed in China expecting factories, efficiency, and everything else we see on the internet. I left with a radical realization: China’s edge isn’t just economic, it’s psychological. They hosted me, fed me, and walked me through their operations, not as a transaction, but as a statement. A statement of belief: We built this. Ours works. Come see. Here's what stunned me: 1. Production is their DNA Every conversation circled back to making things. Not consuming, not reselling, but creating. In Kenya, most of us celebrate who has the latest iPhone. In China, they celebrate who built a better version.

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Question: Why does Africa import toothpicks when we have the trees? 2. Language as loyalty No concessions. Street signs, business deals, daily chatter... is all Mandarin. Contrast that with our beautiful Africa: We debate “Swahili vs. English” while outsourcing our thought processes. 3. The closed ecosystem that opened my eyes No Google. No WhatsApp. No Facebook. Yet, -WeChat does everything (payments, IDs, business). -High-speed trains outpace Western models. -Cities rise from rice fields in 5 years. Truth: They don’t miss what they replaced. 4. Hospitality that felt like home They fed me at midnight. My translator stayed late without complaint. The narrative says China is cold. But I disagree. They understand community like Africans do, but they’ve weaponized it for progress. Here is the painful mirror for Africa: -We have every app, but where are our Alibabas? -We have raw materials, but where are our factories? -We speak global languages, but where is our self-trust? What if Africa spent less energy begging for “access” to Western platforms and more time building our own? We need a shift. From “How do we get into their system?” to “How do we make ours unbeatable?” As someone building systems across Africa and the Middle East, I now ask: What if Africa chose to believe in herself the way China does? What if we bet on our own brilliance? Africa doesn’t lack talent. We lack self-trust. It’s time to rewire our belief system. To move from survival to structure. From reaction to vision. Let’s stop downloading greatness and start producing it. PS. 🔁Repost this. Someone in your network is one mindset shift away from building something the continent truly needs. Strive Masiyiwa Rebecca Enonchong, FREng Fred Swaniker Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Tomi Davies Moky Makura Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani AfriLabs UNDP Africa The Tony Elumelu Foundation African Union #LessonsFromChina #PanAfricanism #AfricaRising #Innovation