Here is why the German's are worried about Africa now:
Also see: Memory Hole: Africa, China and US
"At summit, Merkel spotlights Mugabe" by Angelika Stricker Reuters December 9, 2007
LISBON - Pressured by China's growing investment and influence in Africa, the Europeans aim to agree on an ambitious action plan with the continent to revitalize trade, and to improve cooperation in immigration and peacekeeping.
Prime Minister José Sócrates of Portugal:
"[History has] thrown down the gauntlet and challenged us to work together to write together a completely new page in the relationship between Europe and Africa."
The issue of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, seen by many in Africa as an independence hero, has underlined the difficult relationship between Africa and the former colonial powers.
John Kufuor, president of Ghana and current chairman of the African Union:
"The real significance of this summit must be to lay the foundations of a new partnership based on mutual respect. [Meetings like this will help to break and move away from a painful past relationship that included slavery, colonial rule, and apartheid]. Europe needs Africa as much as Africa needs Europe."
Yes, and we all need each other in this world!
The call for a fresh start comes at a time when the economies of many African countries are growing more rapidly than in several decades, thanks to a commodities-fueled boom.
Massive investment by China in Africa in recent years, as Beijing secures raw materials to feed its own booming economy, has added to confidence on the continent and prompted concerns in Europe that it is losing out on opportunities.
Some African states welcome Chinese economic involvement partly because it comes without the calls for recognition of human rights that accompany European trade and aid deals."
That's what bothers me about the west!
We preach that shit, but it comes down to self-interests as always!
Since when did the West ever care about Africans -- other than to enslave them?
This all explains the article underneath the Reuters piece:
"White farmers in Zimbabwe dig in their heels"
