Africa can choose its own friends

What is of paramount importance about Chinese companies in Africa are the way in which they operate and also the policies that they adopt in African countries. Do they have investment policies that are progressive? Do they invest in job creation? Are their investment policies and wages better than those offered by Western companies? In other words, we should judge Chinese companies on the basis of the material benefits they offer the local people in the countries where they operate and what they contribute to the economic growth, development and progress of African countries.

By constructing and rehabilitating roads, infrastructure, hospitals, clinics and telecommunication systems, Chinese companies have been creating wealth and employment opportunities for the local people and boosting national economies and improving national environments for the further development and progress of African countries. They have also contributed toward the integration of markets and Africa has gained from their role on the socioeconomic front.

China, through its investment, financial and trade relations with Africa, has also provided African countries with more leverage in negotiating better investment, financial and trade deals with Western companies. Thanks to Sino-Africa relations, Western companies and governments face intensified competition. This provides African countries with more room for maneuver in their relations with the West. They now have a solid alternative to accepting the dictates of the international financial institutions. China is Africa's ally in promoting a global system in which Africa's interests are no longer taken for granted.