webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2011
All rights reserved
From: Tsegai Emmanuel (emmanuelt40@gmail.com)
Date: Sun Jun 12 2011 - 00:01:18 EDT
Hillary Clinton Warns Africa Of 'New Colonialism'
LUSAKA, Zambia -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday
warned Africa of a creeping "new colonialism" from foreign investors and
governments interested only in extracting the continent's natural resources
to enrich themselves and not the African people.
Clinton said that African leaders must ensure that foreign projects are
sustainable and benefit all their citizens, not only elites. A day earlier,
she cautioned that China's massive investments and business interests in
Africa need to be closely watched so that the African people are not taken
advantage of.
"It is easy, and we saw that during colonial times, it is easy to come in,
take out natural resources, pay off leaders and leave," Clinton said. "And
when you leave, you don't leave much behind for the people who are there. We
don't want to see a new colonialism in Africa."
Clinton said the United States didn't want foreign governments and investors
to fail in Africa, but they should also give back to the local communities.
"We want them to do well, but also we want them to do good," she said.
"We don't want them to undermine good governance, we don't want them to
basically deal with just the top elites, and frankly too often pay for their
concessions or their opportunities to invest."
Clinton said that American development aid and infrastructure projects come
with good governance conditions and that the Obama administration is
interested in Africa and the African people. Their success, she said, is in
the long-term interest of both the African people and the U.S.
She spoke in a pan-African television interview in the Zambian capital. Her
interview followed the handover of a U.S. built pediatric hospital in Lusaka
to the Zambian government.
Earlier, at the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-Zambia Chamber of Commerce,
Clinton laid out the U.S. strategy for helping Africa.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----