China are pouring money into Africa, because they need their own China. Africa desperately needs infrastructure and expertise, while China desperately needs future sources of cheap labour and raw materials. It's a messy and complicated exchange that is neither neocolonialism nor a straightforward win-win.

What's really brilliant about your question is that if you took your time machine back about 30 years, it could be a quote about how India would never play a role in IT and China would never suffice for manufacturing. For that matter I've heard the same basic gist from American farmers regarding their competitors in South America. If someone else can do it cheaper, then the infrastructure and laws will more or less improve to meet the demand. And then when India becomes too expensive for IT, the work with go to <next place> and when China is no longer the cheap place for manufacturing then that will all go to <next place>.

From what I've read in financial publications, it's getting its act together. It's sick of doing contract labor making flip-flops and other plastic bits, and is making investments in infrastructure to compete in the long-term.

So, compete today? No. Compete in 2030? Maybe.

I haven't been there, myself, but that's what I read.

I thought china was bankrolling infra in east africa to kind of offshore their manufacture even further

Yup, manufacturing will move from China to Africa, and it'll be China reaping the benefits.

Ethiopia beckons: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17118342