Obama's Africa Trip: Too Little, Too Late

There have been reports of growing African -- and, for that matter, Latin American and central Asian -- resentment at China's mercantilist ways. Some accuse Beijing of neo-colonialism, since it is extracting raw materials and then exporting finished goods back to their source. All of which may be fair, but China is no fly-by-night operator. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Chinese investment in African manufacturing almost equals its investments in commodities. China-Africa trade has shot up more than tenfold since 2000 to just under $170bn in 2012 – twice the level of US-Africa trade. It has more than 150 commercial attaches in sub-Saharan Africa, against just six for the US.