The U.S. Secretary has been taking a dig at China and its investment in Africa in the past few days, although he had been roundly condemned by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who is also visiting Zimbabwe on Thursday.
The U.S. diplomat is also believed to be seeking smooth relations with African countries after President Donald Trump reportedly dismissed some African nations as “Shithole countries” in January, a comment he later denied.
The Chinese government has pumped billions into infrastructure projects across the continent, although critics say there is often little gains for local economies because Chinese firms and nationals build the roads and rails.
“We are not in any way attempting to keep Chinese ‘dollars’ from Africa,” he said, “(but) it is important that African countries carefully consider the terms of those agreements and not forfeit their sovereignty.”
Tillerson said that Chinese investments “do not bring significant job creation locally” and criticised how the country structures loans to African governments, saying if a government accepts a Chinese loan and “gets into trouble”, it can “lose control of its own infrastructure or its own resources through default.”
