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China to help Africa boost standby force operational capacity

Xinhua, March 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

China on Thursday donated five million U.S. dollars worth of non-lethal military equipment to a regional bloc in west Africa as part of efforts to boost its standby force operational capacity.

Speaking in Abuja at a ceremony organized to handover the equipment, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Gu Xiaojie, said the donation of the military equipment to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would also promote relations between China and the bloc.

Gu also said the Chinese government's donation was in line with the commitment it made at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit held in Johannesburg in December 2015.

The envoy also reassured of his government's resolve to sustain relations with West African countries and the various regional economic communities in the interest of peace and security in the continent.

According to him, the donation by the Chinese Ministry of Defense is a symbol of the close cooperation between China and ECOWAS and also this is symbolic of China's commitment toward cooperating with ECOWAS states to maintain peace and stability.

He told his audience that China is going to have closer consultation with African countries and sub-regional organizations and other institutions to beef up Africa's capability to maintain peace and stability.

He said the Chinese government would continue providing within its capability and in various forms, assistance and support to African countries.

Earlier, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Kadre Ouedraogo, said the donation by the Chinese government would boost the operational capacity of the standby force.

Ouedraogo assured that the force would be "more professionally efficient to plan and organize various training activities across the sub-region and put to judicious use the equipment".

He expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for the donation and also to the Nigerian government for the efforts it made to facilitate the clearing, transportation, and temporary storage of the equipment.

Also, Nigeria's Minister of Defense, Brig.-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (Rtd) expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for its contribution.

The minister also expressed gratitude to ECOWAS and the Nigerian government for facilitating the mobilization of the equipment.

He reiterated that the provision would meet some of the security needs of the standby force and foster bilateral, security and economic relations between both parties.

He also commended the efforts of member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic in fight against insurgency in the sub-region through their contribution to the Multinational Joint Task Force. Endit