China will be providing $60 billion over the next three years to fund development in Africa despite a recent fall in investment.
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South African President H.E. Jacob Zuma welcoming President Buhari as he arrives the Opening Ceremony of the Johannesburg Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in South Africa.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told African leaders on Friday his country would pump $60 billion into development projects, cancel some debt and boost agriculture under a three-year plan that will extend Beijing’s influence in the continent.
In addition, the Chinese president announced drought aid for the continent, saying he was “greatly concerned” about the poor harvest caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.
“In the lead up to this year’s FOCAC, we have held a number of meetings in Beijing, Nairobi and Kigali, where we have discussed extensively the illegal wildlife trade in Africa”, remarked the CEO, Africa Wildlife Conservation, Dr Patrick Bergin.
“Through its new plans, new blueprint and new momentum for China-Africa cooperation, will send to the rest of the world a strong message of China and Africa working together for win-win cooperation and common development and usher in a new prospect of development to people in China, Africa and beyond”, said Zhuqiang.
The Government of China also pledged to construct the new Parliament in Mt Hampden among other several deals signed between the two countries. In his arrival statement, he said the relationship between South Africa and China was at its best and had become a model of solidarity and co-operation between developing countries.
He said: “China strongly believes Africa belongs to the African people and African problems should be handled by the African people”. However, China has now assured that the country will train 200,000 African technicians along with enabling some of them to go to China.
This received a round of applause from African heads of state with President Robert Mugabe describing Mr. Xi as a God-given friend of Africa.
In the bigger picture, the Chinese want to harmonise Africa’s Agenda 2063 – a 50 year developmental framework drawn by the African Union – with China’s Belt and Road blueprint of connecting Eurasia with roads, railways, cyber-optic highways, industrial parks and smart cities.
“China and Africa have deepened strategic mutual trust and traditional friendship”, said Wang in front of African foreign ministers.
“Here is a man representing our continent; what he is doing for us is what the people that colonized us yesterday should have done”.
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“Once again our detractors have sought to portray and reduce our relations to purely commercial ties, on the contrary, reality fortunately does not conform to such distorted imaginative creations”. A country which never was our coloniser …
