Roundup: China offers Africa fast lane of development, Botswana accessible: experts

China's new initiatives announced during a landmark summit to boost comprehensive cooperation with Africa meets the latter's development priorities and can benefit the continent through the greater economic ties, Botswana experts said.

On the other hand, Botswana Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said the country will utilize China's offer to develop the country.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Johannesburg of South Africa last Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward a massive plan to carry out 10 major cooperation projects in the coming three years in Africa with support from China and urged the two sides to strengthen five "pillars" to lift their time-honored win-win partnership to a higher level.

Since the establishment of FOCAC in 2000, the Chinese government has used the three yearly meetings to make major policy announcements and funding commitments for cooperation with Africa, expert on China-Africa relations Prof. Frank Youngman told Xinhua.

This year's summit, symbolically important as the first FOCAC summit of heads of state to be held in Africa, was therefore eagerly awaited by African politicians and analysts, said Youngman, who was also the former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Botswana.

To ensure a smooth implementation of the initiatives, China will offer 60 billion U.S. dollars of funding support, including 5 billion dollars of free aid and interest-free loans, 35 billion dollars of preferential loans and export credit on more favorable terms, 5 billion dollars of additional capital for the China-Africa Development Fund and the Special Loan for the Development of African SMEs each, and a China-Africa production capacity cooperation fund with the initial capital of 10 billion dollars.

Young said the size of the financial package of 60 billion dollars was far beyond what had been expected and demonstrated China's continuing commitment to cooperation with Africa at a very high level.

The 10 major projects offered by China covers the areas of industrialization, agricultural modernization, infrastructure, financial services, green development, trade and investment facilitation, poverty reduction and public welfare, public health, people-to-people exchanges, and peace and security.

"These showed a close alignment to Africa's development priorities and includes new areas of emphasis which will be welcomed by African countries," said the expert, adding that particular noteworthy is the emphasis on industrialization and the concept of exporting "production capacity" from China as a way of promoting African industrialization.

"Linked to this was the commitment to large scale skills development to provide the necessary human resources for industrialization, which is another welcome development as Chinese companies have been criticized for their lack of commitment to skills transfer," he said.

He added that as China-Africa cooperation is moving to a new level, the challenges now will be implementation, for example, African countries' capacity to utilize effectively the amount of funding and etc.

"Both sides will have to work hard to ensure that in three years time it will be possible to report significant progress," said Youngman.

"Botswana needs to unlock more from China in order to boosts its infrastructural and technological development, both of which are key drivers for greater economic expansion," said Dr. Keith Jefferies, one of Botswana's leading economists.

"This is more so given that the country is set to become an industrial, mining and trade hub in the southern African region," he said.

Jefferies said the strategic economic cooperation between Africa and China will elevate developing countries and stimulate growth, especially under the auspices of such regional blocs like Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS).

"African countries needs to glue closely in order to benefit widely from economic deals with China," he added.

Botswana views China as an important development partner whose diplomatic relations began in 1975 and were matured over the years, Botswana Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi who attended the summit told the country's government owned Botswana Press Agency (BOPA).

China becoming a player in infrastructural development through the disbursement of loans to finance the construction sector over the years, he said, adding that China has assisted Botswana in numerous construction works through grants, making it a fast growing partner.

The Botswana government continues to strive to diversify the economy and will ensure that it optimally utilizes the credit facility presented by China, he said. Endit