From China Brief (Volume 7, Issue 18):
Nearly a year after the China-Africa Summit in Beijing, African perspectives on China are emerging more clearly. At the summit”which was really an extended series of bilateral encounters rather than a meeting with “Africa””many African delegations felt like props in a theatrical production, to be looked at rather than listened to. They nevertheless welcomed the attention and the promises of cooperation and goodwill, and enjoyed the novelty of being regarded as friends to be courted rather than as problems to be solved. Africa sees clear benefits from all forms of Chinese engagement, but African leaders are also increasingly aware that they will only reap full “win-win” rewards through hard-nosed negotiation with China in defense of their national interests”much as China itself did during its own economic transformation. [Full Text]
Mauro De Lorenzo is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Read also Sustainable presence in Africa requires new thinking by Zhang Ying.
