US President Barack Obama has said that he does not feel threatened by the mushrooming of trade and investment in Africa by China and other emerging powers, during a visit to South Africa for promoting business ties with the African continent.
According to news24, Obama has had to defend charges that his country lacked in the level of engagement with Africa, which left countries such as China an opportunity to reap the economic benefits in this part of the world. In a news conference in South Africa, Obama said that he didn”t feel threatened by the developments and it was a good thing, adding that if more countries invested in Africa, the continent could be integrated into the world economy and it would be a merrier situation. The US President also revealed that goals of social and political development in Africa were more important for their nation, unlike China, who is only focused on commercial benefits.
He further said that a lot of people are pleased about China being involved in Africa but on the other hand they recognized that China”s primary interest is being able to obtain access for natural resources in the continent to feed the manufacturers in the export-driven policies of the Chinese economy, which made Africa an exporter of raw materials with no jobs. In 2009, a US government report said that China had surpassed the US as Africa”s largest trading partner. (ANI)