[PedroBatista]

It's the type of offer they can't refuse even if they wanted to.

I get it, but this "help" has a tremendous cost, a cost many future generations of Ethiopians will pay dearly.

While the "West" has been a mixed bag between good and bad, there's always been some kind of moral "checks and balances" and pressure from their voters. You get none of that with China.

[haditab]

What are the "moral checks and balances and pressure from the voters" in the west?

As a voter in the west I don't recall ever hearing candidates talk about Africa (although I haven't necessarily been looking out for it and may be a bit too young depending on when it happened).

[true_religion]

When accepting funds directly from the US government, or a source tied to it (e.g. World Bank, IMF), a country commonly has to undergo some amount of economic reform in order to ensure that the money can be paid back in the future. In order to get money from the US, you typically also have to adhere to similar political values such as democracy.

Exceptions of course are the oil states, due to strategic need.

China on the other hand does not care who you are or what you do so long as you can pay.

In this way they are really similar to private equity markets, but unlike private markets, they do have a navy and can use it to ensure that far away governments pay back their money.