China unveils steps to implement plans for Africa

Smart grab

China has assured Africa of its commitment to all promises of cooperation to the continent but has asked for precision, adherence to time lines and more communication to enable their effective fulfillment.
 

By Edmund Smith-Asante, BEIJING

Mr. Wang Dong, Director of West   Asian and African Affairs at the Commerce Ministry (right) and Mr. He Jun, Deputy Director at the meeting.

In order to enable the effective implementation of its plans to boost cooperation with Africa, the Chinese government has proposed three major steps to African countries.

These are precision in the choice of projects to be invested in, depending on the needs or the strengths of each country, be it agriculture, industry, the service or other sector.
The second is paying attention to timelines to facilitate sustainable development, while the third is an appeal for more and multilayered communication.

Making the proposals during an encounter with African journalists last Tuesday in Beijing, the Director of the Department of West Asian and African Affairs (DoWAAA) at China’s Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Wang Dong, said “China and Africa should consider the real situation of the projects and put the money into the right projects.”

“In order to implement those 10 plans we need specific programmes that we can work on. The two sides should do enough feasibility studies and also decide the model of cooperation and the way of finance.

“So that we can improve the ability of Africa to develop itself through improving the feasibility and sustainability of all those programmes,” he recommended.

10 plans

President Xi Jinping announced China’s 10 plans for Africa in 2015, when he attended the Johannesburg Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit.

The plans cover industrialisation, the modernisation of agriculture, infrastructure, green development, trade and investment facilitation, poverty alleviation, healthcare, humanity and human to human exchanges, financial cooperation and peace and security programmes.

Mr. Wang said the implementation of the 10 plans was a shared mission for both China and Africa and urged African governments to put more effort into providing information through China’s embassies in Africa and also the embassies of African countries in China.

He asked for a safe and congenial business environment in African countries to enable Chinese businessmen to invest in Africa.

“The economic and trade relations with Africa plays a very important role in the relationship between China and Africa. It is not only a driver but also a cornerstone,” he said.

Mr. Wang said by the end of 2015 the stock of China’s investment in Africa had reached US$34 billion, which was 60 times the figure recorded in 2000.

He stated that for eight years in a row China had become Africa’s biggest trade partner, reaching a peak of US$220 billion in trade volume, which was 20 times bigger than what pertained in 2000.

Funding

Mr. Wang said China had also become a very important funding partner of Africa conducting over 1,000 aid programmes in poverty alleviation, healthcare, environment and education and had also trained over 80,000 people.

Infrastructure development is another area in which Africa has received funding support from China, especially for the construction of railway and ports, he said.

Mr. Wang said despite the global economic downturn, the foreign direct investment (FDI) flow into Africa had been growing, resulting in an FDI growth of 14 per cent year-on-year in 2016, which amounted to US$3.3 billion.

“On the one hand it shows the prospects of Africa’s development and on the other hand it shows that the Chinese companies have confidence in Africa’s markets. It also shows the potential and vividness of our cooperation,” he stated.

FOCAC

Mr. Wang noted that the FOCAC established in 2000, played a very important role in the cooperation and dialogue between China and Africa, especially its ministerial meetings held every three years.

He said the meetings had enabled the extension of cooperation projects to almost all 54 African countries and that culminated in the announcement in 2015 by President Xi of the 10 cooperation plans and a fund of US$60 billion for Africa.

Mr. Wang said almost US$50 billion of the fund had already been disbursed to the respective projects while all the plans announced at the Johannesburg forum in 2015 were also being implemented.

“It shows our image as a responsible country which keeps its promises,” he stated, adding that implementing the 10 plans would serve as the impetus for the next step.

Writer’s email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh

 

Facts
The US$60 billion funding support to Africa announced by President Xi Jinping in 2015 included US$5 billion of free aid and interest-free loans, US$35 billion of preferential loans and export credit on more favorable terms, US$5 billion each of an additional capital for the China-Africa Development Fund and a Special Loan for the Development of African SMEs, as well as a China-Africa production capacity cooperation fund with an initial capital of US$10 billion.

This was to aid in the implementation of a 10-year plan for Africa proposed by China for a three-year period.

As of the end of 2015 China’s investment in Africa had reached US$34 billion.

 

This story was written on March 29, 2017