China's involvement in Africa has provoked much debate and discussion. Is China just the latest in a line of exploiters of Africa's rich natural resources, exploiters who put their own economic interests above humanitarian, environmental, or human rights concerns? Or is China's engagement an extension of 'SouthSouth solidarity'? Does China's involvement enable African countries to free themselves from the tyranny of debt and conditionality that, through two decades of structural adjustment programs, have reversed most of the gains of independence? Or is Africa swapping one tyranny for another?

Firoze Manji is founder and executive director of Fahamu and the editor of Pambazuka News. He is the former program director for the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, the former CEO for Aga Khan Foundation UK, and a former regional representative for health for the International Development Research Centre s office for Eastern and Southern Africa. Stephen Marks is the coordinator of the Fahamu China in Africa project and has been a visiting fellow at Goldsmith's College and the University of East London."