President Xi Jinping Pledges $60 Billion to Develop Africa in Three Years

The president was quoted as saying this on Saturday in South Africa in his address at the round-table of Chinese and African leaders at the conclusion of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

During the meeting, the Egyptian prime minister lauded the deeply-rooted relations between the two countries, the Cabinet spokesman said in statements.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the plenary meeting of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dec. 5, 2015.

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“These plans (are) aimed at addressing three issues holding back Africa’s development, namely inadequate infrastructure, lack of professional and skilled personnel and funding shortages”, said Xi, who this week also visited Zimbabwe. “If the colonizers had ears, they should listen to President Xi’s speech”.

“We not only have the strong will but also the practical capacity to do this”.

Meanwhile, overall trade between South Africa and China dropped three percent, which meant China’s exports to South Africa had risen and so had South Africa’s trade deficit.

“The reality does not conform to this distorted, imaginative picture”, Mugabe said, adding the relationship went much further and was deepening into a multi-faceted one, based on China’s vision of peaceful development and win-win cooperation.

Since then, China’s trade with Africa has overtaken that of the traditional partners, Europe and the United States.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the area of the support include economic cooperation, mining, agriculture, public health, infrastructure and industrialization.

PRESIDENT Lungu has urged Zambians and other Africans to emulate China to develop their respective economies.

“We remain committed to seeking the peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue and consultation, and China supports Africa in its efforts to solve African problems through African solutions”, they said in the declaration.

Matjila also welcomed the fact that China had agreed to invest more in Africa’s peace and stability, realising this was critical for development.

He said China has become Africa’s premier investment and trading partner, a trend which will scale up Africa-China trade volumes to $400 billion by 2020 from $220 billion in 2014.

President Zuma paid tribute to President Xi for the new measures and also acknowledged, “the tangible contribution of the People’s Republic of China’s with regard to peacekeeping in Africa”.

He extended appreciation to the country in the Horn of Africa for its assistance to Chinese fleets conducting escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somalia waters, as well as its support for the Chinese side when China evacuated its citizens from Yemen earlier this year.