Eric Olander and Cobus van Staden are the duo behind the China Africa Project and hosts of the popular China in Africa Podcast. Were here to answer your most pressing, puzzling, even politically incorrect questions, about all things related to the Chinese in Africa and Africans in China.

Faced with slumping economies, restive populations and, in many areas, the surging threat of sectarian violence, a growing number of African countries stand at a critical juncture where they must decide who to turn to for help: their new friends in Beijing or those lenders of last resort in Washington, London and Brussels.

Now that the days of large annual economic growth are decidedly over , many African states are regretting that they did not do more to diversify their economies away from a crippling dependence on commodity exports. With oil, copper and timber prices among others remaining stubbornly low , massive debts are now piling up across the continent. Now a burgeoning economic crisis looms over Africa, prompting those old enough to remember the last time debt devoured the continent in the 1970s and 1980s, when a toxic blend of finance and famine wreaked havoc.

Unlike four decades ago, though, when Africas economic fate was still firmly controlled by Europe , African leaders today seemingly have a lot more choice on who they can turn to for assistance, most notably China. The Chinese are the continents largest trading partner , one of its most important investors and play a critical role in building desperately-needed infrastructure. All that may be true, but the Chinese are not known for shelling out billions in emergency cash to flailing economies. But maybe the Japanese would? Tokyo just announced a massive $30 billion investment package to rival Chinas $60 billion announcement back in December of 2015. Thats all well and good, but that money will take time to have any meaningful effect and certainly cannot be used to solve the current liquidity crisis.