Clinton made his comments while traveling with his daughter Chelsea this week in Africa, visiting Clinton Foundation projects. While praising the good work done by the US government and private foundations in trying to build infrastructure for healthcare in Africa, Clinton pointed out that the US is lagging behind China in helping on infrastructure for basic economic growth. China has been a major source of funding for infrastructure projects in recent years, building roads, railways, bridges, stadiums and power plants.
As the first African-American president, Obama has been criticized by some for not paying enough attention to Africa. Weeks after taking office in March, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed China's strong support for infrastructural construction on the continent during his visit to three African nations.
He also said that each year China will help train African managerial and technical personnel in the infrastructure field. China has helped built infrastructure projects in Africa since the s. China replaced the US four years ago as Africa's largest trade partner.
Anthony Carroll, vice-president of Manchester Trade who had worked in Africa for over 20 years, said China's enormous amount of investment has played a very important role in Africa.
Patricia Aidam, a researcher from University of Ghana, said China is doing a great work in Africa, adding that loans with no strings attached are a good thing because not all African countries can meet the conditions set by Western countries for their loans.
