Africa needs deals - but it's definitely not up for sale

04 December 2015 - 02:33 By The Times Editorial

When African leaders meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Africa-China summit in Johannesburg, we hope our continent will not again be put up for sale. We were conquered, enslaved, colonised and recolonised. Now we hope that our leaders can negotiate a future for Africa that will bring a better life for generations to come.China has become Africa's biggest trading partner - $220-billion a year - but it is another superpower and will pursue its own interests first and foremost.With President Jacob Zuma and his counterparts across the Limpopo placing their hopes on Xi to revive their economies, it would be foolish of us not to raise a few issues with our new friend, China.In almost all the major projects funded by China in Africa the workforce has not been dominated by Africans.Although many of our infrastructure projects are funded by China, we cannot absorb its workforce.We desperately need foreign direct investment but we should not sign deals that will impoverish us in the long run.We expect that during the summit Xi will be made aware of some of our concerns.Africa cannot allow itself to be recolonised and its resources exploited only for the benefit of outsiders.On Wednesday China signed 26 trade agreements with South Africa and pledged to invest R94-billion to boost our ailing economy. We are told the deals include a $2.5-billion credit line from China Export & Credit Insurance to Transnet for electrical and mechanical equipment, and $500-million in China Development Bank loan-finance to help Eskom complete its power station construction plans.These are loans and will have to be repaid.We support efforts to revive our economy and boost our infrastructure - but not at the expense of our future .And we must raise the issue of trading in ivory, which has led to thousands of our animals being slaughtered, largely because of China's insatiable demand...

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