Howard French
by Fons1 via FlickrBarack Obama’s election has Africa still not put on the political agenda in Washington, writes former New York Times correspondent Howard French, but the continent is solidly on Beijing’s roll call.
China is doing a much better job than the old colonial powers, although Beijing is not acting as a charity either.
Africans have no illusions, though, of Chinese leadership in resolving the conflicts that continue to tear their continent apart and hold them back. And for good reason there is even less hope among the civil societies that have sprouted in country after country, even in the seemingly least fertile of soils, that China will help Africa democratize, which is a key to the continent’s future.
More at Howard French’s weblog.
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Howard French is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him, or any of our other speakers in Sino-African relations, do let us know.
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