It’s win-win, says a Chinese businesswoman talking to a group of Ethiopian farmers protesting against the forced sale of their land to make way for new factories. She tells the farmers that their government will compensate them with new land – but months later, half of them are still waiting.
This quiet, sobering documentary explores the complexities of Chinese influence in Africa through the lives of three hard-working women. There’s Chinese factory boss Motto; Ethiopian worker Beti, who sews jeans with the “Made in Ethiopia” label; and Workinesh, a farmer and mother of five.
Motto, the businesswoman, is excruciating to watch. At a meeting with European fashion companies, she shamelessly upsells her industrial park. The factories have become a tourist hotspot! “We are considering selling tickets!” she says, giggling frantically. The new factories will add another 30,000 to the manufacturing jobs that China is generating in Ethiopia, a country with a young population in need of work (half are under 18). Reading between the lines, it looks as if China is shipping out the jobs its workers no longer want to do, such as shoe-making. In Ethiopia, people are queueing outside the factories for work.
Behind her sewing machine, young factory worker Beti earns $50 (£40) a month, not quite enough to scrape by. Meanwhile, the Chinese line managers moan about productivity, grumbling that workers take too long in the loo. One group of Ethiopians strike when their quota is raised. The culture clashes come thick and fast, some entertaining, others upsetting.
What’s not in doubt is the power imbalance. It’s glaringly obvious in the opening scene of a wedding between a Chinese man and an Ethiopian woman, where a hefty wad of notes lies piled on a little plate.
But Made in Ethiopia is a nuanced, subtle film. Take Workinesh, the farmer, for example. Factories are the future, she says, and pushes her daughter to study. But it’s her daughter who fills in Workinesh’s harrowing story; rural life for women is backbreaking and can be brutal. Can you argue she is better off on the land than in a factory? This makes for knotty viewing, with no messages that slip down easily.
• Made in Ethiopia is in UK cinemas from 29 November.
