As Africa opens for business, a new rivalry forms

 NEARLY 50 African heads of state are gathering in Washington, DC this week for the first ever US-Africa summit. The focus is financial. Africa boasts 12 of the top 20 fastest growing countries this year, according to the IMF. Yet when it comes to trade, America trails in second place to China, which has long held summits with African leaders and hosted individual meetings (unlike President Obama). Still, America hands out about five times more aid to the continent than China, and invests considerably more too. Meanwhile, European countries still enjoy colonial ties, as the healthy level of trade, aid and investment attests. In recent years emerging powers like India and Brazil have increased their links to the region—but only in terms of commercial flows, not philanthropic ones.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/08/daily-chart-2?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/dc/intoafrica