I spoke with Reuters' Alistair Thomson about Chinese businessmen's investments and loans of tens of billions of dollars in Africa despite global economic problems. The article appears in
Forbes. Here are the relevant paragraphs:
"China is in Africa for the long term, and strategically," said David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso who teaches at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. "They will not veer from this, in my view," he said.
...Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies, China's biggest telecoms equipment maker, is pushing south from its established stamping ground in North Africa.
"I see no reason why they would want to decrease their investments in the telecommunications sector, because that's profitable for them," said George Washington University's Shinn.
"It will vary according to sector and country ... It's very dangerous to generalise about the China-Africa relationship," he said. "They will certainly make tactical retreats where the economy requires it."
