LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is warning 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 Saturday 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.
She says that American development aid and infrastructure projects come with good governance conditions.
Clinton made her comments in a pan-African television interview in the Zambian capital of Lusaka.
She is on the first leg of a three-nation tour of Africa.