LUSAKA (Reuters) – Africa must beware of “new colonialism” as China expands ties there and focus instead on partners able to help build productive capacity on the continent, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.
Clinton, asked in a television interview in Zambia on Saturday about China’s rising influence on the continent, said Africans should be wary of friends who only deal with elites.
“We don’t want to see a new colonialism in Africa,” Clinton said in a television interview in Lusaka, the first stop on a five-day Africa tour.
“When people come to Africa to make investments, we want them to do well but also want them to do good,” she said. “We don’t want them to undermine good governance in Africa.”
China pumped almost $10 billion in investment into Africa in 2009 and trade has taken off as Beijing buys oil and other raw materials to fuel its booming economy.
Clinton, appearing on the “Africa 360” program, called for long term “sustainable” investment that would benefit Africa.
“We saw that during colonial times it is easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off leaders and leave,” she said.
Look who is talking here :hehe: