DAKAR - As opposed to the West, China does not lecture Africa on democracy, Mali's ex-culture minister Aminata Traore said in an interview with Xinhua recently in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Madam Aminata was in Dakar to give a public lecture on "cultural foundations for African development within the context of global crisis."

"We have witnessed the collapse of our economic and political situation and for the last three decades, our countries have been implementing these economic policies that have considerably worsened the unemployment and poverty situation," Aminata said as she explained the causes of the multiple crises on the African continent.

She mentioned places like northern Mali which is currently under occupation by rebels, and noted that it was the failure of the economic policies that had caused some people who had lost hope in that region to resort to what is now being termed as "terrorism and radical Islam."

The former Malian minister said the African problems should not be looked at in isolation, but rather in a global context.

She questioned how, in a place like Mali, "young people (rebels) can move from Kidal to Timbuktu and finally to Gao?"

"This was just not a failure of the Malian national army," she noted. And this, she said, should make us start questioning the kind of national armies that we have: Why do we always have military coup d'etats in Africa?" she posed.

As a solution, Aminata affirmed that there was need for governments to harness the power of culture and ensure that all development programs are geared towards meeting the needs of their people.

"I have an impression that our leaders do not understand this. For example, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) , which is playing a pivotal role in finding a solution to the Malian crisis, has not sufficiently listened to the Malian people, " she said.

She affirmed  that people will always feel empowered if there is a cultural dimension to development programs and democracy.

The former Malian minister insisted that there is need to make people understand in which global economic system "we find ourselves and what are the challenges facing that particular system."

"Why are the leaders from countries that are said to be advanced democratically, and yet are having financial challenges (Greece and Spain), still giving us lectures on democracy?" she asked and was quick to note that "it's because we Africans do not seem to have a proper response to our own challenges."

She said that for the African continent to develop, there is need to end such behaviors as wastage, corruption, imitation and the desire to undercut each other.

Regarding China-Africa cooperation, Aminata noted that "unlike the West, China was more decent and it was not giving Africa lectures on democracy and declaring wars under the pretext of protecting the people."

"It's upon us Africans to know where our interests lie because others are fighting for their own interests and no one will give us free gifts," she said.

In conclusion, she urged African leaders to responsibly utilize what China offers them and at the same time, called upon African people to be more vigilant towards their leaders who may want to misuse the resources that are offered by China.