Xi Jinping pledges US$60bn of development funds to Africa at forum

Xi’s visit to South Africa comes a day after meeting Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe in Harare, where the Chinese leader signed deals worth more than $4 billion, according to Zimbabwean newspapers.

Among the presidents attending were Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest economy, Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta.

President Zuma said the African countries have been struggling with unemployment among the youth and that there is so much pressure for the African leaders to come up with economic and development plans and create jobs.

There have been detractors who constantly insinuate that China’s intentions in Africa could be similar to those of the colonialists, the president told reporters on the sidelines of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

“These plans are aimed at addressing three issues holding back Africa’s development”. As a result, many African countries have forged deep diplomatic ties with Beijing and praised China’s authoritarian model of economic development.

The historic event, the first to be hosted in Africa, will run till tomorrow in Joburg, South Africa. Numerous heads of African states, representatives from the African Union (AU), heads of regional organisations and multilateral organisations are also participating in the summit, which has the theme “Africa-China progressing together: win-win co-operation for common development”. The construction of a auto manufacturing plant in South Africa is also among the agreements reached.

China and African nations face unprecedented opportunities in terms of boosting mutual development as the two sides embark on a new phase of development, said Zhang.

Despite slowing growth in both regions, China and Africa hope to boost their trade on the occasion of this summit.

Chinese influence is broadly seen by Africans as a healthy counterbalance to the West, though Western governments accuse China of turning a blind eye to conflicts and rights abuses.

Some Africans are wary of strings attached to China’s apparent openhandedness.

The Chinese leader further announced that his country will help strengthen Africa’s health program through construction of a disease control center and also send doctors to the continent.

He called on African leaders to be ready for an improved relation with China, adding that China was ready to take relation with Africa to the next level in a mutually beneficial cooperation.