Is China a better friend for Africa?

Can China, the world’s second-largest economy, deliver Kenya to the promised civilisation that European powers failed to deliver upon colonisation?

Can China possibly be the Holy Grail that African countries have direly searched for in their quest for social, economic and political development or will it turn out to be yet another colonial master?

China has, over the past few years, increased her interest in Africa with increased budgetary allocation for continued partnership expansion projects in Africa and particularly, Kenya.

The past five years have seen a rise in the number of Chinese companies that have set base in Nairobi – an indication that China’s interests in Kenya are profound. Other than the most notable infrastructure development projects it has undertaken locally, China is also keen to establish social and cultural ties with Kenya by enhancing tourism, cross-cultural exchanges and so forth.

The West did the same years ago and established a notion that it’s only in the West that everything utopian is available. However, with her entry to Kenya, China must dispel this notion and instead bring civilisation to Kenya without being entangled in local affairs. This will be the ultimate difference between the two global super-powers.

Peter Mshefa, Kilifi