Obama’s trip motivated by Beijing’s Africa ties

 ITRealms

China, a dominant power in Asian economy, has said that the just concluded President Barack Obama’s visit to Africa was motivated by America’s concern over Beijing’s expanding ties on the continent, ITRealms reports.

Beijing’s state media said America "obviously lacks a consistent Africa policy” and sees China as a competitor rather than designing “a constructive power to bring welfare to the land," ITRealms reports a recent publication in the English-language Global Times.

"The U.S. used to be a dominant power in Africa, a change of position has touched the nerves of the U.S," the report said.

According to Xinhua citing Les EchosFrance, the United States’ $7 billion about N1.39 trillion Power Africa project to provide 50 million Africans with electricity had made little progress since it was unveiled in June 2013.

But a senior White House official, ITRealms learnt, said that the United States is building on "decades of development relationships" in Africa, where it has supported public health, food security and, especially now, the empowerment of Africans to create their own growth, their own job creation."
As for the United States' relationship with Africa, he said, "We're not just in it for a set of natural resources; we're here to build African capacity. And that type of partnership over the long run I think does distinguish the United States. It's something that we bring uniquely to bear." 

The Asian powerhouse, ITRealms gathered, has doubled its financing commitments to Africa at each of the last three forum meetings and it’s expected to bolster them with "another impressive line of credit," according to a report from African Growth Initiative, a project of the Brookings Institution in Washington. China's commitments rose from $billion in 2006 to $10 billion about N1.98 trillion in 2009 and $20 billion about N3.97trillion in 2012. It extended its credit line to Africa by another $10 billion last year. 

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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