Interview: Kenyan experts praise China's effort to bolster development in Africa

China's current economic reforms and the pursuit of peaceful diplomacy which has enabled Beijing to become the world's second largest economy for a short period of time will lead to better economic and industrialization prospects in Africa, Kenyan experts said Wednesday.

Professor Munene Macharia, International Relations Scholar at the Nairobi-based U.S. International University (USIU), praised the Chinese political leadership for successfully undertaking economic reform and using the proceeds of economic growth and industrialisation to bolster investments into Africa.

"China is still the economic engine although there are those who might want to overtake it and its economic performance gives it moral high ground," Macharia told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday.

China's growing international trade dominance, global peace and security and environment appear as dominant issues ahead of China's yearly National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) traditionally held in March.

Dr. Gerishon Ikiara, International Economics Lecturer at the University of Nairobi (UoN), said the dual conferences would be important for Africa because they are likely to review the already strengthened relationship between Africa and China under the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

"The two organs are always likely to review China's role in Africa and implications of the commitments made by China to Africa in the wake of last year's FOCAC meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa, the first time this crucial organisation for Sino-Africa international relations held its meeting in Africa," Ikiara told Xinhua in an interview.

During the FOCAC Summit, President Xi Jinping announced Beijing would provide international assistance to African countries worth 60 billion U.S. dollars in the form of loans and grants for industrialisation efforts, and provide technical expertise to improve Africa's trade capacity.

Ikiara said China's growing international stature in global economic growth and stability and the conservation of the global environment are also issues that are likely to feature during the meetings, adding that the increasing danger of global terrorism and extremism is also likely to be discussed.

He said President Xi is also expected to widen the domestic support base in dealing with the domestic and global economic, security, political, and environmental concerns.

"China has come face-to-face with the increasingly visible side effects of climate change. The country had to issue alerts to the population in connection with pollution in some parts of the country. As was clear in China's contribution in the Paris Climate Change conference last year, the country is more than ready to play its part in world and deed towards a globally sustainable environment," Ikiara said.

The economics expert hailed Beijing for consistently embracing broad economic reform, which played a major role in China's emergence as a global economic powerhouse.

Experts say it is possible for China to continue using its economic power and diplomatic influence to attract foreign investments into the infrastructure improvement initiatives underway in Africa.

The same will also apply to the "One Belt One Road" initiative to create seamless transport corridors connecting Asia and Europe to Africa, an initiative with a big potential to radically change the global trade environment.

"As long as China remains the global economic engine, it will continue giving economic direction to the rest of the world since other countries would like to do so as well," Macharia said, noting that with the successful implementation of the Chinese foreign policy and economic reforms, the likelihood of better global economic prospects stood to benefit more countries.

"The 'One Belt One Road' initiative is likely to reduce global cost of production which can be translated into indirect income to the poor through the reduction in the unit cost of goods," he said. Enditem