BEIJING: Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged over $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing’s biggest summit since the pandemic.

More than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending this week’s China-Africa forum, according to state media. African leaders already secured a plethora of deals this week for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy.

Addressing the leaders at the forum’s opening ceremony in Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People on Thursday, Xi hailed ties with the continent as in their “best period in history”. “China is ready to deepen cooperation with African countries in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment,” he said. “Over the next three years, the Chinese government is willing to provide financial support amounting to 360 billion yuan ($50.7 billion),” Xi said.

Over half of that will be in credit, he said, with $11 billion “in various types of assistance” as well as $10 billion through encouraging Chinese firms to invest. He also promised to help “create at least one million jobs for Africa”.

UN chief hails growing ties between China and the continent, saying the bond could ‘drive the renewable energy revolution’.

The Chinese leader pledged $141 million in grants for military assistance to the continent as well. Beijing would “provide training for 6,000 military personnel and 1,000 police and law enforcement officers from Africa”, Xi said.

Also addressing the meeting, UN chief Guterres told African leaders that growing ties between China and the continent could “drive the renewable energy revolution”. “China’s remarkable record of development — including on eradicating poverty — provides a wealth of experience and expertise,” he said.

Deals and pledges

China, the world’s number two economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner and has sought to tap the continent’s vast troves of natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals. It has also furnished African countries with billions in loans that have helped build much-needed infrastructure but sometimes stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts.

Analysts say that Beijing’s largesse towards Africa is being recalibrated in the face of economic trouble at home and that geopolitical concerns over a growing tussle with the United States may increasingly be driving policy. But bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the summit delivered a slew of pledges on greater cooperation in projects from railway to solar panels to avocados.

Following meetings on Wednesday, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said he had overseen a deal between the country’s state-owned power company Zesco and Beijing’s PowerChina to expand the use of rooftop solar panels in his country.

Nigeria — one of Beijing’s biggest debtors on the continent — and China inked a joint statement agreeing to “deepen cooperation” in infrastructure, including “transportation, ports and free trade zones”.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2024