Emergence of "powerful" China an economic boon for Africa: Zimbabwe official

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The emergence of China as a global economic powerhouse is a boon for Africa as the continent now has improved chances of accessing cheap capital from world markets, a senior Zimbabwean official said.

With a 3-trillion-U.S.-dollar reserve, China has become an important capital market that Africa should take advantage of to meet its capital needs, Zimbabwe's Deputy Foreign Minister Christopher Mutsvangwa said Tuesday at the start of a three-day China-Africa symposium being held in Harare.

He said while Africa's relations with the Bretton Woods institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had largely left the continent "a charity case" and in huge debts, China's economic engagement with Africa was based on a win- win situation.

The long-standing cordial relations existing between the two sides also augured well for development and enhancement of mutually beneficial economic relations.

"The arrival of China on the global market has democratized capital. Africa now has the ability to weigh on who is giving them options on capital," Mutsvangwa said.

He said with strong prospects of China's currency eventually becoming a world currency, Africa, with its good relations with China, was conveniently placed to benefit more from its economic relations with China.

Europe, Mutsvangwa said, would be forced to look at Africa in a new way because of the changes brought about by the emergence of a powerful China, he said.

Mutsvangwa took a swipe at those demonizing relations between China and Africa and portraying China as an "economic predator" bent on colonizing Africa.

"That story is not true. We never got our political independence on a silver platter. We fought hard for it and so the story of Africa as being indigent and waiting for another super power to colonize it is not true," he said.

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