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Inauguration of New AU Headquarters and China’s rising influence in Africa
He singled out The Economist Magazine for criticism, saying policies it advocated a decade ago had set the continent on the path to recolonization.
“The Economist, which espouses the very market fundamentalist ideas that wrecked our economies, had a banner headline in one of its issues which simply read, ‘The Hopeless Continent.’ Clearly, these pundits, these experts and international magazines had given up on Africa,” Meles said.
The Ethiopian leader suggested that the recent rapid growth experienced by many African countries had coincided with the trend toward adoption of China’s state-led economic model. He said western economists were having to reconsider their ideas in light of what he called “the African Renaissance.”
“The pundits and academics who were publicly advocating for the recolonization of our continent have now refrained from doing so, at least in polite company,” said Meles. “The very magazine that came up with the banner headline, ‘The Hopeless Continent’ a decade ago, has recently come up with a new banner headline that simply read, ‘Africa Rising.’ Africa is rising indeed. The African Renaissance has begun.”
African heads of state will convene Sunday for a two-day meeting in the new conference hall. The summit theme, “Boosting Intra-African Trade,” is being overshadowed by several hotly contested elections for leadership posts.
AU Commission chairman Jean Ping’s bid for a second term is being challenged by South Africa’s veteran freedom fighter and former foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The election, by a secret ballot of African heads of state, is set for Monday.
Sources: AP and VOA
