Africa Focus: African experts refute the West's defamation on China's aid in Africa

African experts and scholars have acclaimed China's aid to boost the development of the African continent as the West's fantastic theories like "neocolonialism" and "China is exploiting Africa's resources" are floating up.

"When the West labels Chinese aid and infrastructural projects in Africa as neocolonial it is a question of sour grapes," Professor Munene Macharia, Lecturer of International Relations with Kenya-based United States International University, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

China has long been helping Africa with infrastructure development and has completed 1,046 projects, including railways with a total length of 2,233 km and highways with a total length of 3,530 km in Africa, making a significant impact on Africa's economic development and tangible contributions to improve living and working conditions.

Macharia said the West has been in Africa for a long time but has never made development of Africa's infrastructure as a priority, adding that the West is not happy that China is assisting Africa to overcome one of its biggest challenges that it faces today.

Experts agreed that Africa has a huge infrastructure deficit as a result of years of under investment in this sector, saying Africa's rapidly growing population has outstripped government's ability to provide infrastructure at the same pace.

Official statistics showed that two-way trade volume between China and Africa exceeded 200 billion U.S. dollars for the first time in 2013, and China has been Africa's largest trade partner for the past five years in a row.

"China is cooperating with Africa, giving a prior attention to the continent's infrastructural development, without which there cannot be a meaningful economic and social development," said Fantahun Haile-Michael, African Union's Project Coordinator.

Haile-Michael noted China's cooperation with Africa is growing day by day with the focus on Africa's priority areas of peace and security, infrastructure development, education and health sectors of social area among others.

A report from the International Monetary Fund showed that Sino- Africa cooperation has contributed more than 20 percent to Africa's economic growth.

"China's aid and infrastructural projects in Africa are made on the basis of mutual understanding between China and Africa. The projects are in line with Africa's national priorities. The projects are not a form of Chinese domination of Africa as they based on win-win propositions," said Gerishon Ikiara, Lecturer of International Economics with University of Nairobi.

Ikiara, who is also the ex-Permanent Secretary with Ministry of Transport and Communications, said the Western nations only develop infrastructure in Africa that helped to ship Africa's resources to the West.

Denise Kodhe, Analyst and Director General of the Institute for Democracy and Leadership in Africa, said neocolonialism is a term used by the West in reference to the relation to China's cooperation with Africa.

"The term is neither here nor there because nobody has a right to decide for Kenya or Africa who to cooperate with or who their friends should be as clearly stated sometimes back by the late president of South Africa Nelson Maadiba Mandela," Kodhe added.

As the world's second largest economy, China bears due responsibility by offering medical aiding to African countries.

In 2014, China provided its aid in the first time and so far has sent successively several medical teams and batches of emergency aid worth a total of 700 million yuan (around 112.2 million U.S. dollars) to the epidemic-hit countries, becoming one of the biggest donors to the infected areas and playing an important role in containing the epidemic.

However, experts also called for more people to people communication between the two countries.

"It is important for China to make itself understood by ordinary Kenyans and Africans," Kodhe said, adding that China should not only focus its relation with Kenya and Africa based on government to government but also more on people to people basis to create a better understanding. Endi