China Brings the NEW PARADIGM to Africa

China Brings the NEW PARADIGM to Africa

by PD Lawton, 26 April 2018

Source: CGTN , published 10 March 2018

In 2015 the first China-Africa Cooperation Forum was held in Johannesburg, South Africa at which President Xi Jinping proposed a 10 point plan for China-Africa win-win development within the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

At the recent 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing., the Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce , Qian Keming, announced that “the majority of the responsibilities or plans [from the 10 point plan] have been implemented on time or ahead of schedule.” (!)

Mr Qian Keming announced that :

We have cancelled the interest free loans due to mature by the end of 2015 to more than 20 African countries.”

In addition China has provided emergency food aid to more than 18 countries that have been affected by the El Nino weather pattern which had left Ethiopia with a severe food shortage in 2016. Somalia and Nigeria have also been hit by drought and the threat of famine.

China was the first country to deliver food aid to Ethiopia and put a stop to what could have become another catastrophic famine. In 2016 the Chinese funded Djibouti-Addis Abeba railway was not completed but the Chinese managed to use the incomplete line to get the food aid as quickly as possible from the Indian Ocean sea port of Djibouti to Ethiopia`s capital. When the supplies began to arrive the Ethiopian president actually had tears in his eyes when he thanked Mr Qian Keming, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce and said that this was the first food to arrive.

As part of the 2015 China-Africa Cooperation 10 point plan, China has set about to not just trade in Africa but to help to improve people`s livelihoods, to raise the standard of living. They have built schools, hospitals and water sanitation projects across the continent. In the area of industrial cooperation China has increased loans to small and medium enterprises by US$ 5 BILLION! Please note these loans are special very LOW INTEREST loans. China has provided technical training to 150 000 Africans.

Economic and trade cooperation zones such as the New Suez Canal have generated a total output as of January 2018, of an incredible US$ 700 BILLION and tax contributions to local authorities of US$ 580 million. The Suez project alone has created 3300 jobs of which 3100 have been filled by Egyptians.

As mentioned China has financed by the Exim Bank of China, the Dijbouti -Addis Abeba Railway which is now complete as well as the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway in Kenya.

The next FOCAC (Forum on China Africa Cooperation) will be held in September this year (2018) in Beijing. Particular focus will be on poverty reduction, job creation and technical training. China wants to assist Africans by improving people`s livelihoods and thereby “raising Africa`s ability to grow by itself“, as said by Mr Qian Keming.

This is the spirit of China`s Belt and Road Initiative and the spirit of win-win development. It is the spirit of an incredible NEW PARADIGM that China is offering not just to Africa but to the entire world.

WHAT AN AMAZING TIME WE LIVE IN!

 

 

 

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