In this debate posted on The Economist;s website, positions are stated by Calestous Juma and George Ayittey is some detail. Both identify advantages to Africa of the Chinese involvement as well as dangers, but differ on the overall balance. There is then an open discussion by viewers.
Comment: The commercial interests of the United States (Africa's largest trading partner) and Europe (Africa's colonial exploiter) have not been disinterested much less philanthropically oriented. Africa is seeking to diversify its international interests in order to reduce dependency, and that is quite understandable. Whether it is able to do so will depend significantly on the decisions made by African governments and the African private sector. One hopes that they will make decisions that are good for their economies and their people. On the other hand, there are a lot of governments and national business sectors in Africa for which the odds of such good decisions would be quite long against.
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