Business Ethics

Résumé du document

Africa is one of the richest continents in term of natural resources such as oil, gold, diamonds, wood, and many other treasures. The continent also ranks as the poorest country in the world. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the African continent acquired a central position in the worldwide oil geopolitics. The rise of tensions in the Arabic-Persian Gulf conjugated with the increasing growth of energy request emanating from big emergent countries turned international interest to the African continent with a view to develop production capacities. Having arrived in great numbers in the country from the middle of the 1990s, China maintained a privileged relationship with Africa. Thus, the bilateral trade between both regions was multiplied by fifty times between 1980 and 2005. The numbers even quintupled between 2000 and 2006, passing from 10 to 55 billion, and should reach 100 billion in 2010. China has already established more than 900 firms in Africa, and in 2007, has taken the place of France as second biggest business partner of Africa.

Extraits

[...] It is organized as follow: Oil production: 2.75 million barrels of crude oil/day Gas production: 5.6 million cubic feet/day Oil reserves: 3.06 billion metric tons Gas reserves: billion cubic meters Oil and gas production account respectively for and of China's total output. CNPC is a global player with assets and interests in 27 countries across the globe. This is one of the largest technical and engineering service suppliers of entire oil and gas operations, oilfield services, engineering and construction, as well as integrated resolution schemes. CNPC manufactures materials and equipment required by each sector of the petroleum industry, including oil and gas exploration, development, production, storage and transportation, and petrochemical facilities. [...]

[...] The Africans have to try to make this fantasy come true by rectifying its current critic situation to redress its problem: the State, the legal structure, human rights, law authority, politic system Bibliography http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sdtoc.html www.cnpc.com.cn www.africaoiljournal.com www.china.org.cn China daily.com www.chinasouthafrica.com Chris Alden (October 2005), China in Africa, in Survival, Volume http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713659919~db=all~tab=issuesl ist~branches=47 - v4747 Denis M. Tull(Sept. 2006), China's Engagement in Africa: Scope, Significance and Consequences, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol Issue pp. 459-479. Ian Taylor (2006), China's Oil Diplomacy in Africa, in International Affairs, vol no pp. 937-960. [...]

[...] Ethical? First we are going to analyze the situation between Sudan and the CNPC, then explain what are the moral issues. I. Presentation of the situation Sudan Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and tenth largest in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. [...]

[...] No one can deny that Africa has a good potential for a country like China in economic and political fields. We can see 4 main interests: resource security, new markets and investment opportunities, symbolic diplomacy and development cooperation, and forging strategic partnerships. First of all, China finds in Africa a land full of raw material and energy resources. China's state oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), has invested heavily in partnership with national petroleum (and natural gas) interests in the Sudan, Angola, Algeria and most recently Gabon. [...]

[...] The Sudan People's Democratic Front and the South Defense Force are militias created to protect the Chinese companies by moving population who is living near oilfield, and by arming the employees. However, since 2005, the Rebels threatened to attack CNPC facilities in South Darfur Chinese employees of CNPC have been kidnapped and 5 have been killed recently. Conclusion To conclude we can say that the Sudanese are aware of Chinese interests in their country. They know China is not a “Good Samaritan”. But they know also that China may prove itself useful. Before China others countries have been there, the USA, Europe, but all disappointed them. [...]