Hegemony: The United States Has Disqualified Us From The African Growth And Opportunity Act

"When Rwanda wanted to develop industry and reduce the import of second-hand used clothes, the United States disqualified us from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and we were punished just because we wanted to develop our own economy."

According to the new times on February 4, the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, said at an online meeting of the Hoover institute that the relationship between Africa and developed countries is very important, but it should be a mutually beneficial relationship, rather than unilaterally imposing its own will on African countries.

He also refutes the claim that China creates debt traps in Africa: interestingly, the discussion of China's debt is far more than that of the "Paris Club" (a group of creditor countries composed of European and American countries), and China has never forced any country to borrow from them.

President Kagame of Rwanda

During the meeting, Kagame talked about national construction, leadership, US Africa relations and other topics. In his view, some western countries did not come to Africa with an equal mentality, which often hindered their relations with African partners.

"Before they came, they decided that Africa ignored human rights, was undemocratic and not free, so they wanted to teach us about human rights, democracy and freedom. But we refused. People everywhere are not willing to live under the orders of others. "

He also cited his own experience as an example of the challenge of maintaining predictable and long-term relationships with countries, where large countries may be immersed in their own strengths and thus ignore the needs of small countries. Rwanda once tried to reduce the inflow of second-hand clothing to develop the textile industry. As a result, it lost the qualification of the African Growth and Opportunity Act of the United States

"When Rwanda wanted to develop industry to reduce the import of used clothes, some of the lobbyists who benefited from the trade influenced the US authority and cancelled the agreement. And we're punished for just trying to develop our economy. "

Kagame said that Africa is becoming the fastest growing economy in the world. If countries in the world can contact the whole African continent on the basis of mutual benefit, it is an ideal choice for both sides.

He further explained that if we really want to have mutually beneficial contacts with African countries, we should develop their industrial capacity through investment.

Video capture of Kagame's speech at an online conference

Since then, both sides have talked about the so-called "China debt trap". Mr Kagame said China was appearing on the continent in different ways, but they had never forced any country to borrow from them to accumulate debt.

In his view, the restrictions, costs and demands to be taken into account when borrowing are things that the borrowing countries should consider themselves. And interestingly, there is a lot of discussion about China's debt in African countries, but very little about the debt of Paris Club in Africa.