I've visited her site, but am yet to read her book. She does make some very interesting points, that are shared by many educated Africans:

1. China sees Africa as an opportunity, the West sees Africa as a charity case. Consequently, many components of Western engagement are not driven by economics, but more to satisfy post-colonial guilt. For example, the US is spending $600 million on aid to Nigeria, but this money is not likely to lead to economic growth (and significant amounts of it are likely to be embezzled or spent as consulting fees).

2. China has had a consistent policy towards Africa - (to create prosperity, build a road). While the West has oscillated from "integrated rural development", to "import substitution", to "industrial development", to "structural adjustment programs" and finally now "Millennium Development Goals".

Another book making the rounds is Dead Aid, by Dambisa Moyo. In that book, there is a chapter titled The Chinese are our friends. The book raised a storm in the development community, but it resonated with most African intellectuals.

This is not to say that the Chinese don't have their faults, but fifty years of Western development policy have not produced many tangible results. True, Governments may be corrupt and institutions may be weak, but are we going to wait for corruption to be eliminated before we build roads and power stations?

There is an economic component to the future security of the African continent, and whether we like it or not, the Chinese have a role to play (probably the most important role after Africans).