10 April 2009
	China needs Africa Robert Matsila, Midrand

The second wave of the Scramble for Africa is definitely being won by China. This is particularly attractive to African leaders, who loathe the conditional assistance of the West and are therefore against some form of economic and/or political reform. However, the same strategic manoeuvre successfully employed by the West during the quest to establish global empires lies behind what appears to be generous assistance from China. Specifically, China requires Africa's resources, and in return will provide finance for much-needed infrastructure. Similar to what happened before in history, the money involved will largely be transferred from one company in China, or the Chinese government, to another company in China - with African countries seeing none of it. The Chinese construction and engineering companies are therefore set for a huge bounty, particularly given the limited capacity in Africa. Worse still, if the financial assistance is in the form of a loan, African countries will be left burdened with debt. But that's not all. Most disconcerting is the doleful consequences of the loss of political and economic sovereignty, as it appears to be the case with SA. It is important to realise that China needs African countries as much as African countries need China, and therefore the relationship needs to be mutually beneficial rather than African countries yielding to the needs of China.