China will seek a say in Kenya’s affairs in bid to recover loans

China’s role in Africa has become a much-debated topic. Chinese involvement sprung from the phenomenal economic growth resulting from domestic economic reforms that introduced a market economy and encouraged foreign investments in China, in what the World Bank has described as ‘the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history.”

China’s domestic hunger for energy has led to its interest in Africa as a source of energy and Africa is now a major focus of a Chinese domestic decision to increase its energy security by diversifying the sources of imported energy, particularly oil and gas. While 20 years ago, China’s energy footprint in Africa was only in the Sudan, there has been expansion to at least 16 more countries. China is also presented as having joined other global actors in converting the continent’s natural resources into actual wealth, creating jobs and transferring skills.