Eager to maintain the growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, Asia’s booming economies are courting cash-poor but resource-rich African countries with billions of dollars worth of investments, trade deals and development aid...In 2006 Chinese President Hu Jintao told a conference attended by 48 African leaders in Beijing that China would double aid to Africa by 2009...Up to the end of 2005, the country’s foreign direct investment in Africa totaled $1.3 bn...China has often been accused of being lenient with authoritarian regimes in Africa, although some Western governments have also been criticized for supporting autocratic governments in Africa...[T]he G-8 urged the continent’s new donors “to improve transparency of their aid and to follow internationally shared principles”...The G-8 also insisted on promoting the “universal values” of human rights, democracy and good governance...