This week’s stunning stock debut of the Chinese company that dominates the African mobile phone market is definitive proof in the promise of the African market. Shenzhen-based Transsion Holdings started trading this week on the NASDAQ-style Star exchange in Shanghai where its stock immediately shot up 64% on the opening day, pushing the company’s valuation close to $7 billion.

What’s interesting here from a political point of view is that while the United States, Japan and Europe have all talked at length about how they want to transition their engagement strategy from state-sponsored aid programs to private-sector-led investment, the Transsion IPO demonstrates clearly that China is already doing that.