BY BRYAN OTIENO
On August 2, the first ever consignment of avocados from Africa, and specifically Kenya, arrived in Shanghai, China.
This was a culmination of more than three years of talks between the two countries that led to the signing of bilateral agreements on trade in January.
Due to its over 1.4 billion population, China provides a huge market for the African products while Africa provides an investment opportunity for Chinese firms.
Chinese firm Shanghai Greechain is the link between Kenya and China. Some 15 Kenyan firms have been licensed to export avocados, from at least three million smallholder avocado farmers to China. It is an example of a China-Africa cooperation that results in a win-win situation for all parties involved.
This is what the Communist Party of China general secretary and President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, seeks to enhance. For a long time, the CPC, which has led China to prosperity, has been leveraging on the goodwill and friendliness of its people to forge a strong bond between the country and Africa.
This bond has been getting stronger by the years and has enabled China and Africa to become more than just friends. They view each other as equal partners.
This view was stressed by a study by Friedrich Naumann Foundation published in June. The study indicates that many African decision-makers see their relationships with the West as recipients of aid, rather than as equal partners on the ground.
James Shikwati, a Kenyan economist and co-author of the study, says the West, for instance, dictate to Africans what they need and are trapped in their own value system.
“Europe emphasizes on governance, while the Chinese focus is on "hardware," the concrete infrastructure to touch,” says Shikwati.
China’s foreign policy emphasizes, among other things, non-interference with internal affairs of the country it cooperates with. This makes Africa feel more appreciated and enhances the people-to-people exchanges, which become friendlier. As a result, there is more cooperation.
The establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000 further strengthened the people-to-people exchanges.
And the rotational manner in which the meetings are held between Beijing and an African country every three years further solidifies this trust between friends.
Through FOCAC, both China and Africa have benefitted.
According to Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi, China and Africa have pushed forward cooperation on infrastructure, and completed several major projects since the Dakar Conference, in November last year. These include the Foundiougne Bridge in Senegal, the Nairobi Expressway in Kenya, the Kribi-Lolabe Highway in Cameroon, and the 10th of Ramadan LRT in Egypt.
“All these have lent a strong boost to Africa’s industrialization process.” Yi said at the coordinators’ meeting on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the eighth Ministerial conference of FOCAC on August 18.
Moreover, over three billion has been delivered out of the 10 billion US dollars of credit facilities pledged to African financial institutions.
A shared prosperity and a shared future between China and Africa can be seen in the amount of development that China has helped achieve in many African countries.
According to Zhao Baogang, a counsellor at the Chinese ministry of Foreign Affairs, China has helped build over 30,000km of roads and railways, over 80 bridges, over 45 stadiums and over 130 hospitals across Africa through Chinese loans, grants and foreign aid.
One example is the Kenyan Standard Gauge Railway which, according to ResearchGate, contributed to the country's Gross Domestic product (GDP) growth by 1.5 per cent. The project has driven Kenya's economic growth by creating 46,000 jobs for local residents.
“The individuals working in SGR are able to get income to support their families an aspect that contributes to the economic growth of the country,” the ResearchGate study says.
ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. The study concluded that SGR transport infrastructure has strengthened the domestic economic environment and enhanced regional integration of the East African community.
It has also provided economic, social and strategic unity of the East African member states and played a key role in the integration of the constituent sectors as well as acting as a stabilizing factor of the region's economy, the study says.
An African proverb says if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. Africa wants to go far and has chosen China to go with.
Ends….
On August 2, the first ever consignment of avocados from Africa, and specifically Kenya, arrived in Shanghai, China.
This was a culmination of more than three years of talks between the two countries that led to the signing of bilateral agreements on trade in January.
Due to its over 1.4 billion population, China provides a huge market for the African products while Africa provides an investment opportunity for Chinese firms.
Chinese firm Shanghai Greechain is the link between Kenya and China. Some 15 Kenyan firms have been licensed to export avocados, from at least three million smallholder avocado farmers to China. It is an example of a China-Africa cooperation that results in a win-win situation for all parties involved.
This is what the Communist Party of China general secretary and President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, seeks to enhance. For a long time, the CPC, which has led China to prosperity, has been leveraging on the goodwill and friendliness of its people to forge a strong bond between the country and Africa.
This bond has been getting stronger by the years and has enabled China and Africa to become more than just friends. They view each other as equal partners.
This view was stressed by a study by Friedrich Naumann Foundation published in June. The study indicates that many African decision-makers see their relationships with the West as recipients of aid, rather than as equal partners on the ground.
James Shikwati, a Kenyan economist and co-author of the study, says the West, for instance, dictate to Africans what they need and are trapped in their own value system.
“Europe emphasizes on governance, while the Chinese focus is on "hardware," the concrete infrastructure to touch,” says Shikwati.
China’s foreign policy emphasizes, among other things, non-interference with internal affairs of the country it cooperates with. This makes Africa feel more appreciated and enhances the people-to-people exchanges, which become friendlier. As a result, there is more cooperation.
The establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000 further strengthened the people-to-people exchanges.
And the rotational manner in which the meetings are held between Beijing and an African country every three years further solidifies this trust between friends.
Through FOCAC, both China and Africa have benefitted.
According to Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi, China and Africa have pushed forward cooperation on infrastructure, and completed several major projects since the Dakar Conference, in November last year. These include the Foundiougne Bridge in Senegal, the Nairobi Expressway in Kenya, the Kribi-Lolabe Highway in Cameroon, and the 10th of Ramadan LRT in Egypt.
“All these have lent a strong boost to Africa’s industrialization process.” Yi said at the coordinators’ meeting on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the eighth Ministerial conference of FOCAC on August 18.
Moreover, over three billion has been delivered out of the 10 billion US dollars of credit facilities pledged to African financial institutions.
A shared prosperity and a shared future between China and Africa can be seen in the amount of development that China has helped achieve in many African countries.
According to Zhao Baogang, a counsellor at the Chinese ministry of Foreign Affairs, China has helped build over 30,000km of roads and railways, over 80 bridges, over 45 stadiums and over 130 hospitals across Africa through Chinese loans, grants and foreign aid.
One example is the Kenyan Standard Gauge Railway which, according to ResearchGate, contributed to the country's Gross Domestic product (GDP) growth by 1.5 per cent. The project has driven Kenya's economic growth by creating 46,000 jobs for local residents.
“The individuals working in SGR are able to get income to support their families an aspect that contributes to the economic growth of the country,” the ResearchGate study says.
ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. The study concluded that SGR transport infrastructure has strengthened the domestic economic environment and enhanced regional integration of the East African community.
It has also provided economic, social and strategic unity of the East African member states and played a key role in the integration of the constituent sectors as well as acting as a stabilizing factor of the region's economy, the study says.
An African proverb says if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. Africa wants to go far and has chosen China to go with.
Ends….
