Xi, who is in his first trip to Africa, said that the land is not only endowed with a long and splendid history but also blessed with a great potential for development. The Chinese government will also cancel outstanding debts for Africa’s least developed countries in the form of zero interest loans that mature at the end of 2015, he said.
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“There is a sense that African leaders seek economic empowerment, not simply reliance, from their relationship with China”, said Lyle Morris, China analyst at the RAND Corporation in California.
China is willing to encourage more Chinese companies to actively participate in the process of industrialization and modernization of the remote continent, he added. The summit resulted in a declaration and action plan, which Xi said represent all-round planning for future development of China-Africa relations.
The summit on the Forum on China Africa Cooperation begins at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg with African countries expecting cooperation in creating an enabling environment to boost industry in their respective countries.
Leaders from Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Senegal, Liberia, Benin, Mauritania, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Cape Verde, Malawi, Guinea-Bissau, Zambia, Algeria, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Sierra Leone as well as Burundi attended the group meeting.
More than 85% of Africa’s exports were raw commodities, and this did not suit the partnership that Africa and China wants.
“Over the years, it has transformed its economy and everyone is now looking to China”.
“Industrialisation evokes issues of infrastructure, issues of an enabling environment and I think it’s along those lines that Zimbabwe as indeed the entire African continent would like to see more cooperation with China, more in terms of assistance in infrastructure development”. Following the group meeting he held with 13 African leaders on Friday morning, the group meeting on Saturday morning was the second of its kind on the sidelines of the summit. During the same period, China’s direct investment in Africa has sharply increased from $500 million to $30 billion.
President Buhari said he was confident that China would always stand shoulder to shoulder with his administration in its quest to fulfill the aspirations of Nigerians to propel them to prosperity.
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According to economist Aubrey Hruby, the $60bn pledge is three times as much as the package promised at the last China Africa cooperation summit in 2012. “Up to now, China has sent 21 batches of altogether 60 vessels and escorted over 6 000 ships”, he said.
