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This is in light of what the international development secretary Hillary Ben said, that " britain is concerned that china,s drive to offer unconditional aid to african countries will undermine efforts to relive dedt in the region"

At the moment china is pumping aid to many african counties regardless of their human rights record

This is mainly in agriculture, mining, construction, telecomunication etc

Countries currently benefitting include some of the worst violators of human rights such as, Sudan, Zimbabwe.

I think the idea of aid is generally bad, worst still if it is conditional . It encourages dependency, violates  the very principles of independence, enslaves our people and distabilizes africa politically, economically and socially among others.

 

China like all emerging super powers is playing politcal posturing with the Western powers and as are a result the African countries will pay heavily. It is good PR for them at the Moment and they are using Africa as a dumping ground of their fake,cheap stuff which wont find Market in the other continents.

There is always a Catch somewhere........

TKO:

...I think the idea of aid is generally bad, worst still if it is conditional . It encourages dependency, violates  the very principles of independence, enslaves our people and distabilizes africa politically, economically and socially among others.

 

 

They say debt cripples Africa and I think they forgot to add on Aid.

Honestly, where has all this aid got us to? In a position to stop thinking of how we can solve own problems without shameless begging that our neighbors are not helping. If you will give that beggar on the street money after passing him and he curses you for not sharing what you have (well if you have anything) then I don’t think you would see my view here but if you won’t, then why can’t you see it?

I love this this quote “If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of The Boat”, but we are curled up in our rags in the boat and dreaming of a developed Africa. On aid!!!???............. Whose aid???. We are always going to get that little to keep us comfortably where we are.

 

@betterfly: thanks for taking interest in this topic,I agree with you that there is a power game going on between china and the west .

However, the track record of western powers in Africa  as represented most notable by the I.M.F(international murder fund) WB (world bandit) GATT, the UN and many other institutions advancing American hegamony is well documented,

Africa should just manipulate whatever power with interest in the area to advance its own cause.

Chinese aid seems to have fewer strings attached  and i think that is preferable to western aid by miles

The tying of aid to democratization is just a pretext by the west to interfere in other peoples busines.

Cheap import undermines local markets and industries , however the government can impose trade restriction to deal with the problem.

This is very unlikely in the free trade obsesed world of today  since one of the conditionalities the west imposes on third world countries is unrestricted access to their markets.

 

 

 

Typical example of western hypocrisy. giving  with one hand and taking with the other

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/15/1528209

 

 

On the one hand accessibility to another pool of debt is good for a country, esp if its cheap debt, because access to current pools sometimes depend on Officials from these bodies - WB, IMF, EU, etc who may deny a country on the basis of a flawed analysis of need for investment as the President always says, so you wd turn to China in this case, esp since funding bodies tend to work together. It also helps reduce controls of financiers on the way a country is run, which has been put forward as a reason for unending poverty in Developing countries.

But on the other hand, you have to question whether debt is a solution for a country's devt. Does the debt add value to Uganda- look at the donor funds  in the health sector, which tend to come with alot of 'technical assistance'? We have to challenge our leaders to continuously analyse Uganda's needs & determine key areas for Aid, otherwise the rest just goes in expenses & the like rather than adding value. This is bcoz alot of aid can come in for the wrong programmes based on poor analysis of development needs in a sector, & the investment shd follow thru in thought throughout the sector so that gains arenot lost

An example is if KCC decide to advertise in US media eg NY about Kla maybe spend $1m, but have not put proper thought/analysis to travel & housing & availlability of public information, etc  that impacts on the impressions of the first people that respond to the advert, & thus take back a mixed picture.Some of the value of the expense is lost bcoz the scheme doesnt follow thru the organisation, so long term benefits might be very minimal. the same can happen with Aid in all Govt Ministries.

China has announced that it will spend $150m to expand the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addia Ababa, Ethiopia, and also build offices for Senior AU officials . haaa !

But why all this sudden interest in Africa  especially Sub-Saharan Africa as we begin the 21 century.

 I hear that China is becoming the ECONOMIC SUPER POWER for the next 200 years or so, thus displacing, Europe and USA from being the Economic Super powers of the world. But for China to keep as NUMBER ONE they have realized that they must turn to AFRICA FOR THE MUCH NEEDED RAW MATERIAL THAT WILL HELP SUSTAIN CHINA'S   FAST GROWING  WORLD ECONOMY

http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=609&newsId=567239  

China has a no-string attached dollar credit in Africa and the west just can’t stomach it. This is in contrast to Washington’s control tactics via the World Bank and the IMF. If china can give Africa loans on favourable terms why stick to the painful medicines of the west? My only fear is that this may trigger another scramble for Africa that will result in wars. Darfur in southern Sudan is the case in point. The USA trains and arms the SPLA against the Khartoum Govt, which has signed oil, deals with China’s national petroleum company (CNPC). This makes China the biggest foreign investor in Sudan with 5 billion in oil field development, much to the annoyance of the west.

Already 30% of china’s crude oil comes from Africa and in return China is offering a series of soft loans with no interests to build infrastructure such as roads, schools hospitals etc. If you compare that to the harmful austerity demands of the IMF and the WB, you can only give china the thumbs up

TKo- Be as it may that China is not putting strings to its power of lending to Africa n sub saharan Africa at that there is a catch! Ask why invest in war torn Sudan? OIL is the answer to in short china is doing wot the rest of Europe did a few years its a carrot and dagger technique. Recently the announced a $150M to build AU is AU lacking buildings to further their mission or money instead whynot give  that money in a bid to ease the AU financial coffers to run the mission in war torn countries?

Between them and the Western world there is no difference in their mission only tactics. China wants to emerge as a global super power and Europe, US, Asia doesnt give them that center stage what a better way than USE back water Africa that has lots and lots of problems? Show a lil of humanitarian face and still the rumble[oil,minerals] under their feet. Nothing has changed!

African leaders need to start looking for solutions within themselves, borrow what the can pay back. Must we always depend on foreigners to run our countries? Malaysia is an example of a nation that has got it right . As long as Africa and individual states show they cant handle their domestic issues and financials the rest of the world will take the opportunity to  reap what we failed to reap.

TIICA:

 why all this sudden  CHINA interest in Africa  especially Sub-Saharan Africa as we begin the 21 century.

http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=609&newsId=567239  

 

 There is talk of

AFRICA TO RIVAL CHINA IN GROWTH ----

 can it be true that CHINA is actually helping AFRICA rise much faster to economic development?

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/573293

http://www.monitor.co.ug/inspol/inspol06207.php  

http://ugpulse.com/ugandan-community/forums/post/5274.aspx

In December 2004 boxing day  I prayed for Africa, haha............ we shall make it and they will stop despising us and laughing at our poverty, our pit latrines, rags, banana currencies, and skins and monkey homes, 3rd world attention which do not matter as world leaders.

Dr. Oloya

TIICA:

 why all this sudden  CHINA interest in Africa  especially Sub-Saharan Africa as we begin the 21 century.

http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=609&newsId=567239  

 

 EU and USA have been asleep,only to wake up and find China has entered Africa thru the backyard.

 And unless the EU puts in massive AID and TRADE with Africa, it may be a matter of a few years and the big trading partner with Africa will be China for the rest of this 21st century

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/222/573160

 

And now its the SINO-AFRICA trade relations that are giving USA and EU sleepless nigths 

- the west is blowing the trumpet that China may be giving support to Africa by giving economic aid and loand that of little or no intere to be paid back to China.The West is worried that the recent and sudeden surge in Sino-Africa trade and political interaction, especially Chines economic interests, will only consolidate BAD GOVERNACE IN AFRICA -- or better still - bad democracy -- but must Africa follow the USA /EU stlye of democracy . Its the ARAB WORLD, and INDIA and CHINA and now AFRICA beginning to say as MUSEVENI HAS OFTEN SAID: what we need is TRADE not AID and what we need is DEVELOPMENT and not an importation of some irrelevant western democracy that will not help Africa rise

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/20/573136   

 

 

Don't be fooled my friends! China like the West are in it for the mines be they of Fish, Oil, metal or Precious stones etc. The only difference China doesn't ask so many awkward questions of our leaders and they like it that way too! To understand how the Chinese operate speak to the Zambian miners! China has a large population whose tastes in all manner of things especially consumables is increasingly sophiscated and their leaders will search the world over to satisify this demand!

 

 And its now on record that a CONTINENT  seen by many Western governments and companies as hopelessly corrupt and socially dysfunctional has seen a dramatic increase in CHINESE INVESTMENT -----------

CHINA IS TAKING AFRICA BY STORM

http://www.thepromota.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=270&Itemid=2 

 

 In case you thought that China was turning only to Africa

--- now its clear that China  is rapidly becoming

 the WORLD'S No 1 ECONOMIC GIANT POWER

http://www.comcast.net/news/international/index.jsp?cat=INTERNATIONAL&fn=/2007/09/01/753129.html