Zambia's Presidential Elections

Zambia is headed to the polls. And it made the news in the National Post. That doesn't happen every day.
Things are looking up for the economy in the little nation.
Copper prices are surging, riding mostly on China who run many of the mines, and also happen to be undergoing a MAJOR boom of their own. In fact, I understand China is gobbling up many of the world's supplies of steel, copper, concrete and other building materials.
So how does China play into the elections in this African nation of 11 Million people? Well, on one side, the incumbent Levy Mwanawasa supports China and Mr. Sata, "King Cobra" wants to back off of relations with the mega Asian superpower.
So it's become the main issue in the election, one that will be very interesting. We'll see if there's a change or not.
But....
Why is a guy in Saskatoon writing about Zambia anyway? Good question. My sister lives there. She's been there for two years and I always keep an eye open. She tells me things are looking up in Zambia, partly because the Chinese have re-opened old copper mines, and invested in textile industries that help the Zambian economy. She also tells me people live in poverty we in Canada can only imagine.
About half of the population is unemployed, and many live off of $1 per day.
Worse yet, she just lost a 20 year old friend. So I am thinking of those people in Africa and wondering why nobody in the western world WILL LIFT A FINGER TO HELP ANY AFRICAN NATION?
It just doesn't make any sense how the politicians can go to sleep at night knowing how bad things are in many developing African nations. Maybe it's not just the politicians, it's all of us.
I hope it changes soon. After all, Africa is the birthplace of civilisation.