The colonial "white man's burden" argument doesn't have much appeal, anymore.
[Excerpt] Afghanistan needs not just food parcels, but British courts and Canadian police and Indian civil servants and U.S. town clerks and Australian newspapers. So does much of the rest of the region. Given the billions of dollars of damage done to the world economy by September 11th, massive engagement in the region will be cheaper than the alternative.
America has prided itself on being the first non-imperial superpower, but the viability of that strategy was demolished on September 11th. For its own security, it needs to do what it did to Japan and Germany after the war: civilize them. It needs to take up (in Kipling's words), "the white man's burden," a phrase that will have to be modified in the age of Colin Powell and Condi Rice but whose spirit is generous and admirable.[End Excerpt]
Look for China to examine opportunities. Africa, particularly southern Africa, still has vast mineral wealth that can be taken by somebody willing to go in and take it, and ruthless enough to kill anyone isn't an asset to their plans.
But don't expect them to care about black Africans -- the Chinese have more than enough manpower. The may decide that the Africans are an unwelcome annoyance.