Africa has to make the best of China ties(2)

One talking point in Mozambique has been whether the country might be the next Dubai within 20 years, following a recent discovery of major gas reserves. Chichava believes this is highly unlikely.

"We would have to change many things for this to happen. You know there is no strategic plan for development. In our first 10 years after independence there was a clear plan of how Mozambique must be in the future. There is no longer that clear vision," he says.

He says if Mozambique and other African countries are to progress further on development then South-South cooperation between developing nations is important.

"There is a lot of discussion here as to whether China is still part of the south. We cannot pretend our relationship with China is still in any way horizontal. I think this would apply to Brazil also. Both are at a much more advanced stage," he says.

Chichava believes that China has a certain advantage when doing business in Africa because it comes with less baggage than the West.

"We have a very complicated history with the West. With China we don't have this colonial past. This, however, doesn't mean that the relationship with China is that different. They are here to teach rather than to learn from us, just the same," he says.

The academic says that China has had a particularly effective role in infrastructure in Mozambique being responsible for funding a number of key projects such as the $2-billion Mphanda Nkua Dam and the Maputo ring road. China Exim bank recently agreed a loan of $416 million for the road linking Mozambique's second port city of Beira to Machipanda on the Zimbabwean border.

"This road is very important for our economy and it is also investments like this that will make bodies such as the Southern African Development Community work, so it is easier for countries in the region to trade with each other. Trading blocs are the key to Africa's economic development," he says.

Chichava believes the Chinese do not employ a double standard when dealing with Africa and that to some extent is refreshing.

"They know what they want and they are not hypocritical. They don't want to interfere with political affairs and they are essentially pragmatic," he says.

But he believes it will take more than Chinese investment for Africa to become a rising economic force later this century. He is somewhat skeptical of the recent McKinsey & Co report, Lions on the Move: the Progress and Potential of African Economies, which predicted the continent would be driven forward by its young consumers.

"I think the big problem is that we don't have the human resources skills. The skills of the people are just not there. The authorities are just not interested in education. We just don't take education seriously enough."