China skirting African corruption in direct aid – As China’s strategic interest in East Africa grows, instead of simply giving cash as foreign aid, China prefers to pay Chinese companies to improve infrastructure, bypassing local politicians and construction crews. Just last month, Chinese workers built two towers in Kampala, in what “aid watchdogs applaud as a model to help defeat the inefficiencies and cash-pocketing corruption associated with other systems of foreign aid delivery.” This new model could help to “cut the risk of aid scandals like the one that rocked the $22.6…

