China has welcomed more than 50 Africans leaders to Beijing this week for a summit to strengthen ties at a time of increasing political and economic turmoil around the world.
Many of them, including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s William Ruto held one-to-one meetings with their Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and were given tours of Beijing and other cities at the heart of China’s development ahead of the summit.
Paul Frimpong, executive director of the Ghana-based Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory, says that Western powers – as well as oil-rich Gulf states – are trying to match China’s influence in Africa.