JOHANNESBURG - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday that African countries should weigh Chinese loans carefully, while adding that Washington was not trying to keep Chinese investment away from the continent, Reuters reported.
Tillerson, a former Exxon chief executive, made his comments while on his first trip to Africa with a mandate to bolster security alliances on a continent increasingly turning to Beijing for aid and trade.
Earlier in the week, he criticised China’s approach to Africa which he said encouraged dependency through “opaque contracts” and “predatory loan practices”.