Rwandan President speaks out on China engagement in Africa

By Africa-China Review Reporter

The Rwanda President Paul Kagame on Wednesday,  responded to a number of issues regarding China engagement with Africa and the relationship between Africa and the US. The Rwanda President was speaking at a virtual engagement with Hoover Institution for a conversation on nation-building, leadership and US-Africa relations among other topics. The discussion was moderated by Herbert Raymond McMaster, a former US national security adviser.

Responding to questions about the claimed China debt trap for African countries, President Kagame said that, “China has never forced any country to borrow from them to accumulate debt.” He further said that when borrowing funds externally, it is a responsibility of countries to factor in their limitations, needs and what they need to give back.

The President also observed that, “it is rather interesting that there is much talk of China’s debt in African countries but little mention of the Paris Club.” The Paris Club includes countries from North America and Europe which lends to developing countries.

On the issue of Africa’s relationship with the west, President Kagame said that the engagement and partnership should be based on mutual benefit and not based on the West imposing or dictating their own will on African countries. 

“They come with this mind-set that Africa is indifferent to human rights, to democracy, to freedom, so they come to do it for us. And we’re saying no. No human being anywhere would want to live by dictates from somebody else,” Kagame said.  Africa emerging as the fastest growing economy, it would be beneficial for the rest of the world to engage on a mutually beneficial principle.

 President Kagame mentioned an example where the US removed his country Rwanda from eligible countries for the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) as a punishment for reducing importation of second hand clothes in order to develop Rwanda’s textile industry.

 “When Rwanda wanted to grow its industry and therefore, reducing on import of used clothes, some lobbyists who were benefiting from this trade influenced the powers in the US to strike off that deal, and we came under punishment for simply wanting to grow our economy,” he said.

The Rwanda President suggested that among avenues for mutually beneficial engagement would be through investment that would develop countries’ industrial capacities.

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