Quoi?

I am, at the moment, watching the French news with my host family, and the news story is about Maliens learning not English as their second language (well, probably third, after Bambara and French) but are learning... did you guess right? Mandarin! Yes, the Chinese have invaded Africa and are doing a hell of a lot more to and for the nations of that continent than their former colonial oppressors ever did. I am still perplexed how France ever managed to have an empire, Napoleon or not. Maybe the Chinese are just cashing in on a new round of imperialism, maybe they're actually bringing progress. History will tell. But regardless, ain't that a little odd?