By SHARON ZULU
FORMER Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu says Western countries have continued to regard Africa as their exclusive playground and China’s presence amounts to unwelcome intrusion.
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”4,5,6″ ihc_mb_template=”2″ ]
Dr Ng’andu says according to the Western World, China has simply got no business being in Africa.
Dr Ng’andu said when the West is saying that China is stealing Africa’s minerals, their real concern was that China was offering unwelcome competition to the Western World, which had been exploiting Africa’s minerals for centuries and had continued to do so through its multinational corporations.
Dr Ng’andu said if the West was saying that China was precipitating a debt crisis in Africa, both history and fact contradict the assertion by the West.
He said a simple reality check showed that China’s lending to African countries was often grossly exaggerated and was hardly the source of sovereign debt crisis in Africa because the continent’s debt problems had been there even before China lent even a single cent to an African county.
“The West comes out as brutal in its very negative characterisation of China’s relationships in Africa. It accuses China of coming to Africa with the sole purpose of stealing its mineral wealth.”
“The criticism also projects China’s financial assistance to African countries as corrupt and predatory. In the face of the recent sovereign debt crises faced by a number of African countries, China has been crowned with the dubious honour of setting debt traps for African countries so that it can then seize their assets in the event that they default in servicing their loan obligations,” Dr Ng’andu said.
Dr Ng’andu said China was not the problem, the Western countries which were generally indulging in duplicity and double standards without reserve when it came to protecting what they considered to be their legitimate interests.
“It just so happens that China’s presence in Africa falls within that description,” Dr Ng’andu said.
[/ihc-hide-content]
