China Pledges US$60bn In Loans To African Countries

Xi Jinping (second from left) at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg. (DIRCO ZA)
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged US$60 billion to African countries for the next three years in loans and grants at the China-Africa Summit being held in South Africa.

US$156 million was pledged for drought stricken countries in Africa for mitigation purposes.

President Xi said the relationship between Africa and China is built on win-win basis, citing the construction of the Tazara railway line, the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,  and other mega projects that will see the two working together for the betterment of their respective people.

China-Africa Summit co-chairman, South African President Jacob Zuma, thanked President Xi for raising the bar on the relations between the two.

The Africa Union Chairman, President Robert Mugabe, who spoke soon after the China-Africa Summit co-chairmen, said China has done what the continent’s former  colonisers could not do for generations.

He said those who misguidedly allege that China is in Africa to extract raw materials are wrong as the relationship is far deeper than that. Source: zbc

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