Beijing, a Boon for Africa? – A discussion with Africans in China about China in Africa

I recently read Dambisa Moyo’s NYT op-ed “Beijing, a Boon for Africa.” After wrestling with a few questions that came up for me in the piece, I realized that this was a topic far beyond me and decided to ask my African friends here in China what they thought. The three men I chatted with come from Zambia (the same as Moyo), Zimbabwe, and Ghana. Since they currently live in China, they prefered to remain anonymous.

Do Africans really like China more than the U.S.?

This question was met with chuckles from my Zambian and Zimbabwean friend (I didn’t get an answer from the Ghanaian). I was promptly reminded that Zambia had just elected a president who had been explicitly anti-Chinese