Africa chose China because the West did it no favours

China is a force for good in Africa, said Tony Blair yesterday.

Obviously, he said this only after implying that the stunning economic growth much of Africa is now experiencing was of his making. But let us put that aside for now.

How utterly strange for the former British prime minister to punt China as the Benevolent Dragon when the West has spent most of the past decade warning against a new form of colonialism from the Far East.

He then said that African governments should diversify their portfolios. In other words, give the West a part of the business, too. Don't be so dependent on China.

Speaking at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Blair was keen to point out that governments and mining companies had to work together.

Sure. But what Blair is missing is that African governments are indeed diversifying.

For the first four decades after independence, African states aligned with either the Soviets or the West. And the West represented none other than the old colonial masters mixed with a bit of US support. It did not work out so well.

Over the same period that South Korea leapfrogged middle-income nations to become truly developed, Africa remained stuck in lower-income territory. Only since the early 1990s have there been other options.

China has a finger in most pies. But Blair is forgetting about Brazil's increasing role in the Portuguese-speaking parts of Africa. India is using its large diaspora in East Africa to establish a trading foothold. Even Turkey and South Korea are getting in on the act.

And South Africa is forging ahead with a retail expansion north of the border and an ever-expanding expatriate community helping to work the mines on this continent.

African countries have been choosing China because they don't believe you, Mr Blair, when you say you've helped them grow. So stop trying to take credit for a phenomenon much larger than yourself.