Africa should be sensitive to local conditions while learning from Chinese experience: expert

Africa can learn from Chinese economic growth experience of the past three decades but should be sensitive to local conditions, a Chinese expert has said.

The statement was made on Tuesday by Professor Fu Jun, academic dean of the newly established Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development (ISSCD) during a two-day seminar detailing the past, present and future of Chinese growth story in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The ISSCD, established in April 2016, is an educational program for officials of developing nations aimed at helping them make a difference in their home countries. Currently 48 students are enrolled.

"The faculties aren't intended to promote the copying of Chinese model, but there are logics for growth to learn from Chinese experience provided it is sensitive to local conditions," says Fu, adding that it is up to officials in African countries to figure out what policy works in their countries.

Dilamo Otore, Addis Ababa City Trade bureau Manager and one of the participants at the seminar, for his part said Ethiopia's growth aspiration mirrors China's in many respects.

"We're building industrial villages with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from China as we try to move from agrarian to industrial sector, as a plus we need to learn Chinese transformation experience," he said.

"We have labor and land, our limitation is capital and technological advancement, which we are getting help from China," he added. Enditem