Interview: Production capacity cooperation with China good for Africa -- Ugandan expert

Production capacity cooperation between China and African countries is critical in fast-tracking Africa's economic development, a leading Ugandan economist has told Xinhua.

As Chinese enterprises seek development overseas, African countries should seize the opportunity to cooperate with them so as to strengthen manufacturing and boost overall economic development, Isaac Shinyekwa, a research fellow at Uganda's Economic Policy Research Center, said prior to the China-Africa summit slated for Friday and Saturday in Johannesburg, South Africa.

As he sees it, Africa can follow China's development path and start with building light industries, then heavy industries and eventually high-tech industries.

"They (China) may not bring high technology immediately but first we need to improve our light industries," he said, noting that African countries should at least be able to produce some of the consumer goods currently imported from China.

Production capacity cooperation would help the recipient countries create jobs, improve industrial capability and stimulate growth, and China also stands to benefit because its companies will be further involved in the global market, he said.

To illustrate his point, Shinyekwa mentioned a case of China-Africa production capacity cooperation -- a leather factory in Ethiopia.

The China-Africa Overseas Leather Factory, established in 2010, has brought remarkable export revenue for Ethiopia as it allows the country to export finished leather products instead of roughly processed materials. Meanwhile, it also provided jobs for many local residents, he said.

China is already looking at steel, construction materials, railways, machinery and aviation as some of the priority areas it wishes to enhance cooperation with other economies, Shinyekwa noted.

This would bring great opportunities for Africa, a continent rich in natural resources, he said. "Africa matters to China because Asia does not have some of the resources Africa has. The resource field of the world right now is Africa."

Shinyekwa also proposed that China and African countries work together to set up special economic zones on the continent.

In such economic zones, industry operators will be provided with all the services they need and their products are only for export, he added. Endi