Dambisa Moyo on China in Africa

"The West can choose to ignore all of this, but, like it or not, the Chinese are coming. And it is in Africa that their campaign for global dominance will be solidified. Economics comes first, and when they own the banks, the land and the resources across Africa,their crusade will be over. They will have won.

.     .      .

The mistake the West made was giving something for nothing. The secret of China's success is that its foray into Africa is all business. The West sent aid to Africa and ultimately did not care about the outcome; this created a coterie of elites and, because, the vast majority of people were excluded from wealth, political instability has ensued.

China, on the other hand, sends cash to Africa and demands returns. With returns Africans get jobs, get roads, get food, making more Africans better off and (at least in the interim) the promise of some semblance of political stability."

Dambisa Moyo, Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa. Farrar Strauss and Giroux, 2009, p. 152