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Africa Collaboration With China’s Silk Road Good for the Continent
Africa Collaboration With China’s Silk Road Good for the Continent
Nigeria And China Are In Dialogue On The Belt And Road Initiative
–The Round Table Dialogue held recently in Abuja, organized by the Center for China Studies and chaired by Nigeria’s former Foreign Minister and former ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Alhaji Aminu Wali, discussed the strategy of connectivity across countries, and within countries. The Belt and Road Initiative will spawn an elaborate network of land, rail and maritime transport arteries and industrial clusters along its now-inclusive global routes, Charles Onunaiju wrote in his article, Nigeria and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, published in “The Sun” on March 28.
“The dialogue recognized that the core feature of the Belt and Road, which is essentially connectivity, is at the heart of the contemporary challenge of Africa, and therefore urged Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular, to play decisive roles in the mechanism of the Belt and Road by appropriate policy engagement.”
The Deputy Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria, Li Jing, speaking on that occasion, said “the continent’s development agendas are therefore in synergy with the Belt and Road initiative, and there is no doubt that Africa and Nigeria, through appropriate policy facilitation, could align to the central features of the Belt and Road to advance her modernization and industrialization.”
Belt and Road Initiative and the African Continental Free Trade Area Provide Opportunities in Africa, Says a World Bank Officer
–In an article in the “Daily Nation” of Kenya, Peter Warutere, a communications officer for the World Bank based in Nairobi, said the condition created by the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) “presents a window of opportunity for African
countries to transform their economies, achieve rapid growth, and create jobs for their burgeoning youth population.”
He also wrote that “Kenya is well positioned to greatly benefit from the AfCFTA and the development of the Indian Ocean maritime route connecting China with the East African coastline.
The gateway to eastern Africa, Kenya should invest heavily in upgrading its infrastructure and industrial capacity. The window of opportunity for it is to become a vibrant industrial and logistics hub for Sino-African trade, investment and exchange.”
Kenya’s Secretary of National Treasury, Henry Rotich, said his government hopes China will help to make Kenya’s Big Four economic agenda a success. The Big Four agenda consists of food security, affordable housing, manufacturing, and affordable health care, Prensa Latina reports. “We want the Chinese private sector to participate in projects related with this agenda,” the Secretary said.
‘Nuclear Could Turn Zambia into a Regional Food Basket’
–That is the plan, by the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute and the Agriculture Ministry, with help from Russia’s Rosatom nuclear agency. An article under that headline yesterday by the African News Agency describes how for Zambia, and most of Africa, nuclear technology can dramatically improve food availability and nutrition on the continent.
An agreement has been signed with Rosatom for the establishment of a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology in Lusaka, which will help prepare Zambia for nuclear power in the future. Zambia suffers power rationing between 8 and 14 hours per day when water is low at its hydroelectric dams. But immediately, the application of nuclear science and technology will be in agriculture.
Crops that are resistant to disease, able to withstand environmental stresses, such as drought, and produce higher yields are developed by using nuclear radiation to change the genetic makeup of plants. Zambia is developing new crop varieties with these characteristics, which will not only improve the nutrition of the population, but also the lives of the farmers.
Nuclear radiation will also be used for preserving food, using radioactive isotopes. This will immediately increase the food supply. A large percentage of the food produced, especially
in developing countries, never reaches the dinner table. For example, 40% of the fish produced globally rots before it can be eaten. Zambia will be able to join the 60 nations in the world that currently preserve food through irradiation.
Other applications of nuclear technology in agriculture will be for pest and disease control, inspection of the quality and quantity of water resources, and soil conservation.
The Zambia Agriculture Ministry is running multiple research projects in various fields to up-shift agriculture. With the Center for Nuclear Science and Technology, they will have new tools
Benin President Wants China To Build Rail Project
–President Patrice Talon of the West African nation of Benin has asked the French giant Bolloré and a local firm to “withdraw” from a rail infrastructure project so that China could take over the project, according to an interview Talon gave to the French business magazine {Challenges}, published yesterday.
Benin and neighboring Niger have been attempting to link the Benin port of Cotonou with Niger’s capital, Niamey, since 2008.
Talon described the Bolloré offer as “lower-end,” saying that “a private investor cannot finance the railway we want alone.” Talon also said that “China has the necessary financial means” to support the project, expected to cost around $4 billion and pointed out that “China has demonstrated its technical know-how” for building infrastructure in Africa.
Joint Projects Are a Testament to Cameroon’s Trust in China, Says President, Visiting Beijing
–Cameroon President Paul Biya is on a three-day state visit to China, and, as President Xi Jinping
pointed out, he is the first head of state to come to China since President Xi’s reelection. The two presidents met yesterday. President Biya stated that relations between the two countries has stood the test of time, and that China has become one of Cameroon’s strategic development partners. Without listing all of their specific joint projects, President Biya said that they are a testament to the trust that Cameroon has in China.
This afternoon, Biya met with China’s top legislator, Li Zhanshu, of the Standing Committee of yhe National People’s Congress, during which they discussed further bilateral relations in the future. Li said China is willing to have more friendly exchanges with Cameroon’s parliament, and expressed hope that both countries would support each other on political issues. More people-to-people exchanges were also discussed.
In turn, Biya “spoke highly of China’s foreign policy,” Xinhua reports, and said he appreciated China’s long-term support for Cameroon.
Africa Should Learn From China, Advises South African Scientist
–Africa should learn from China’s rapid advances in education, science, and technology to solve socio-economic challenges, said South African scientist Neil Turok. He is the founder of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada. Turok made his remarks yesterday at the opening of the Next Einstein Forum, being held in Rwanda. There are about 1,600 participants at the conference, which takes place March 26-28, and at least half are under the age of 42, {xinhua} reports.
“China has invested heavily in education, science, and technology,” the scientist said, “and the results are amazing. China is emerging as a new global science and technology powerhouse.” He called upon all African countries to focus, prioritize, and promote science and technology for solving economic challenges.
Source: http://lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com/2018/03/30/africa-collaboration-with-chinas-silk-road-good-for-the-continent/