China and Benin: “We can have exchanges and learn from each other”

We Are One: When China Meets Africa

China Focus: When we talk about China, what do you think of first?

Sedou Mama Ague: China is a big and beautiful country. The Chinese people are wonderful and friendly. China has made tremendous achievements, and China is currently appearing in every corner of the world.

Specifically, China’s information and communication technologies have brought tremendous convenience to our society today. China, its industries, and its products have made it easy for us to have access to mobile phones. Even the poorest people in Africa, in Benin, have access to a mobile phone. The Chinese have drastically reduced the price of mobile phones. Thanks to the cooperation with Chinese people, today even the poorest people in Africa know what mobile phones are, and they also use them to communicate and access information in their daily lives.

China Focus: In your opinion, to what degree have Benin people accepted the Chinese culture in Benin?

Sedou Mama Ague: There are Chinese people in Benin who are into trading, and there are Chinese people who are in the art industry. They live among the people of Benin, and they work very well with us, just like you. Benin is a small country, our culture is rich, but it is not as diverse as in China. There are no small people or big people, it is thanks to cultural exchanges that we understand each other better, and that we will do something great together. We, people in Africa, and especially in Benin, know about colonialism. We were colonized by the French and the English, so we know what colonialism is. The countries that France occupied, turned into French-speaking countries, and the countries the English occupied turned into English-speaking countries. We did not know the Chinese, we did not know the Russians, we did not know the Japanese, and we did not know the Vietnamese. But thanks to China, and thanks to China opening up, I know about Chinese acrobatics, I know about Chinese dance, I know about Chinese temples. Thanks to the exchanges our cultures have blended together.

China Focus: In your opinion, what is the common point between China and Africa?

Sedou Mama Ague: When I am in China, I feel like I am at home. Maybe the buildings are different, but the people, their lives, their love and the solidarity they express are the same, and these are important factors in our lives. In addition, mutual understanding is common, and that enables us to understand each other better. The other thing we have in common is development, we are sharing the Chinese experience, and we need the Chinese experience to develop our nation and people. Our ambition is to develop like China. China is going ahead, and Africa is following, that’s well known.

China Focus: How can we benefit from theses common points?

Sedou Mama Ague: Through exchanges and cooperation. No one is going to be left behind. The world today is a global village. We have to get along, we have to talk to each other, and we have to live together. Thanks to the life we have in common, we can do many things, we can fight for peace, happiness and development.

China Focus: In what way do you think China helps changing Africa? What do you think about the comments by western media that China is colonizing African countries?

Sedou Mama Ague: They are afraid of China, that’s why they say China is building a new colonial empire. China did not bring guns to Africa. No. So it is not true when they say that the Chinese are the new settlers. China is everywhere in Africa, there are Chinese everywhere, all African countries invite the Chinese. But when it comes to others, we don’t invite them. Our erstwhile colonial rulers, we don’t invite them. They came, they broke our culture, they destroyed our values, and they took our people, but the Chinese did not do that. There is a French minister who said that one day when China wakes up, the world will shake, but China is waking up, and the world is not trembling. The world lives in peace, the world lives with assurance, and the world lives in harmony, because China is there. For my country, China is also like a protector against evil. That’s the fact.

China Focus: In which aspects do you want China and Benin to strengthen exchanges?

Sedou Mama Ague: I wish we can strengthen cooperation in the field of education and training. Africa should learn from China about industries and technology. It is more developed than Africa, and we want to gain from the Chinese experiences in technology, culture, training and in all areas.

China Focus: What is your impression of China ?

Lokonon Clementine: Actually, this is the first time I have come to China, but it doesn’t mean that it is the first time I have heard of China. We learned a lot about China in school. Furthermore, I also watch CCTV or more precisely CGTN quite often. In my country, we do not have these programs every day, so I first watch CGTN then some African channels, so that I get the correct information on politics and economics. What it means is that I follow China closely.

China Focus: What do you think about the exchanges between China and Benin?

Lokonon Clementine: The people of Benin, like the Chinese, believed in communism in the past, and both our countries agree that social well-being should be at the center of our development. China has not only defended its ideology but is also open to capitalism. What should the African people do? We want to have our ideology, we want to retain our own culture, and we also want to be open to capitalism to promote our economic, political and social cultural development.

China Focus: What do you think of China-Africa relations?

Lokonon Clementine: Four principles can explain it – sincerity, real results, friendship and good faith. We should be sincere, frank and pragmatic in our relations. If we come to China only for a seminar and do not participate in the sessions afterwards, we will be the losers. But if we understand that we are here to participate, then we have something to offer to China and China also has something that we are looking for. This will be a win-win cooperation.

The benefits are reciprocal, and this is not a relation which has been described by some people as one party being superior to the other. I admire the Chinese people for being able to retain their own culture and traditions despite foreign aggressors. In the past, we did not know about our culture and we believed those intellectuals who thought African traditions were pagan. So, we abandoned them and adopted foreign beliefs. We have lost our traditions today and we cannot find them, but you have retained your traditions and modernized them.

This is what we can learn from China. But before all of this, talking about medicine, we can exchange and learn from each other. I believe that together, we have lots of space for cooperation.

Interviewer: Zhong Lei
Editor: Elena