Bill Clinton says the US can learn from China's involvement in Africa

Former US president Bill Clinton believes the United States must try to create a future it can share with China instead of pursuing a "zero-sum game", especially in Africa.

Clinton's comments came during a recent trip to Africa with his daughter, Chelsea, to visit projects supported by the Clinton Foundation.

While Clinton praised the work done by the US government and private foundations to build healthcare infrastructure in Africa, he said the US is falling behind China in helping the continent foster basic economic growth.

"I don't believe we spend enough money on basic economic growth initiatives. So I won't argue that the Chinese are going to get a lot of goodwill," Clinton told the British Broadcasting Corporation earlier this month in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

China has funded many infrastructure projects in Africa in recent years, building roads, railways, bridges, stadiums and power plants.

According to a report by US-based AidData, China provided $75 billion (56 billion euros) in official aid to Africa from 2000 to 2011, which is comparable to the amount of US aid to the continent over the same period.

"I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing for America if African countries appreciate both what we try to do to help their kids stay alive and what the Chinese do to give them better infrastructure," said Clinton, who turned 67 on Aug 19. "And I think that we've got to try to create a future that we can share with the Chinese, not one where everything is a zero-sum game."

A conference about African infrastructure held in July in Johannesburg called on China and other countries to invest in the continent's infrastructure. A World Bank report showed that each year funding for necessary infrastructure in Africa falls short by at least $93 billion.

As the first African-American US president, Barack Obama has been criticized for not paying enough attention to Africa. Critics say he must make major efforts to compete with the African Growth and Opportunity Act that Clinton established and the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief created by former US president George W. Bush.

"But I do think that he cares about Africa and I'll be surprised if he doesn't spend quite a bit of time on (the continent) in his last three years," Clinton said of Obama.

Zhang Jun, head of the international economic affairs department at the Foreign Ministry, says building infrastructure in Africa remains a high priority for China.

China has provided assistance in 184 infrastructure projects in Africa since the 1950s, Zhang says. He adds that nearly 90 percent of loans China issued to Africa were used in infrastructure projects. China lent $5 billion to the continent in 2006 and $10 billion in 2009.

Anthony Carroll, vice-president of Manchester Trade who has more than 20 years' experience working in Africa, says China's huge investments had played an important role in the continent.

"Chinese investments and loan assistance have gone into areas that the US vacated 15 or 20 years ago," Carroll said in May. "(China's) large infrastructure projects and long-term vision that (it brings) to projects has also helped Africa grow. (China) also brings with it a development experience which is more relevant to many of the African economies."