China injects positivity for Africa’s social, economic benefit
According to the incomplete statistics by the Chinese side, since the end of the summit, there have been 182 co-operation agreements signed between China and Africa, worth $32.5 billion (R443.8bn), and about 90 percent of the aggregate amount comes from commercial loans. During the co-ordinators’ meeting, the two sides signed another 61 co-operation agreements, worth $18.3bn. Among them, the Chinese enterprises’ direct investment agreements aggregated $14.8bn, contributing more than 80 percent of the total. Investment co-operation is becoming the main engine of China-Africa trade and economic co-operation, which has entered a new phase.
China-Africa production capacity has gained significant momentum. After the summit, forums on the China-Africa production capacity co-operation and investment have been frequently held. China for the first time held investment promotion fairs for the state visits paid by heads from Nigeria, Togo and other African countries. China has also built platforms for Ethiopia and other countries to attract investment and investors from China, encouraged competent local governments, including those of Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, to discuss investment co-operation with key partners of production capacity co-operation, including South Africa and Ethiopia, and signed production capacity co-operation framework agreements with six countries, such as Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
Special loan
The China-Africa Industrial Capacity Co-operation Fund has started operation and the special loan for the development of African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is in place. About 10 Chinese financial institutions have provided financial support for the development of African countries, and co-operated with their counterparts in Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria, Congo-Brazzaville and other countries to conduct currency swop business.
A great deal of large-scale infrastructure construction projects in areas such as railway, highway, port, airport, electricity, water supply and communications are being implemented.
With China’s financial support, the continent’s first electrified railway linking Addis Ababa and Djibouti will be opened to traffic soon and the Mombasa-Nairobi standard track railway is expected to be delivered next year.
China has reached consensus on co-constructing the “east Africa Information Highway” with six east African countries. As South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said after the Johannesburg summit, the Chinese-side had been actively implementing the summit outcomes with impressive efficiency.
This opportune co-ordinators’ meeting is a manifestation of the new level of Africa-China comprehensive strategic partnership of co-operation.
In an effort to jointly create an “upgraded version” of China-Africa co-operation, the co-ordinators’ meeting deepened the exchange of views on co-operation, identified the priority and drew out the implementation road map.
First, the consensus reached shall be implemented with a scientific approach; the local conditions shall be considered in order to plan and select appropriate projects; and the funds shall be arranged in a scientifically sound manner.
Second, with the right direction identified and implemented through pragmatism, the “10 co-operation plans” shall be translated into feasible projects through bilateral channels.
Third, the mechanism shall be utilised and implemented in an efficient way; the mechanism of the forum platform shall be strengthened, and China-Africa intergovernmental trade and economic co-operation mechanisms, such as trade and economic joint commissions, shall be further improved so that the “10 co-operation plans” can be given a fuller play as the major channel.
Eight years ago, despite the global financial crisis, both sides implemented practical measures reached in previous forums fully with mutual assistance, creating a China-Africa co-operation miracle against the crisis.
Eight years later, the world economy today is still suffering from sluggish recovery. The respective tasks of development faced by China and Africa are still arduous. Although China’s economic growth has slowed down, it still maintains a medium to high growth rate. At the same time, China’s economic structural adjustment creates new opportunities for China-Africa co-operation.
China will continue to inject positive energy into the African economy; China-Africa co-operation will not increase Africa’s debt risk because we will conduct a scientific study on the co-operation projects in advance to ensure that the projects will bring social and economic benefits. Both sides can make use of the Focac mechanism, and make the “10 co-operation plans” the key pillar in “turning crisis into opportunities” again.
Whith China’s financial support the continent’s first electrified railway linking Addis Ababa and Djibouti will be opened to traffic soon.