China loans Ghana a skajillion dollars for DL. Ghana's distance learning project receives boost from Chinese government -
What's the catch? Beijing doesn't just give out a skajillion dollars and expect nothing in return! aranoid:
Assuming it's well spent, that's good news. With Ghana's demographics, meaning so many young people in the educational pipeline, the more infrastructure in place the better.
It's not a gift, it's a $37 million soft loan, which by the standards of Chinese policy makers is probably not that big a deal. As for what they want, it's increased influence in a region of the world with rich natural resources where influence is relatively inexpensive. They've been buying friends all over Sub-Saharan Africa for this reason for some time. Or, put another way, it's good old fashioned dollar diplomacy -- or rather, renminbi diplomacy.
It's a good question. China, as a rule, plans waaay ahead. A 100 year plan is not unusual. Because of this the eventual goal is not often immediately apparent.
