China-Africa ties transformational

Think tank leaders and media representatives say more cooperation needed to spur inclusive, sustainable development

Kenyan officials say they have no doubts about the quality of Chinese projects. In fact, the East African country is awarding more projects to Chinese firms based on their industrious and tenacious nature of delivering affordable, state-of-the-art infrastructure within given time frames.

James Macharia, the country's cabinet secretary of transport, infrastructure, housing and urban development, says Chinese firms have broken the cycle of cost overruns and time delays. "Our biggest project, the standard gauge railway costing $3.3 billion, whose civil work is 90 percent complete, is set to be commissioned in June next year, six months earlier than the initially projected December 2017. This is rare in Kenya."

He was addressing more than 150 think tank leaders and media representatives drawn from prominent organizations in China and Africa attending an Aug 11 to 13 symposium in the coastal town of Mombasa. Participants discussed the realization of commitments made during the second Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit held last year in South Africa.

Dignitaries attending also included Li Zhaoxing, president of China Public Diplomacy Association and a former Chinese foreign minister, and Zhao Qizheng, former minister of the State Council Information Office and the dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University of China.

Macharia says China-Africa cooperation has realized tangible benefits that are transformational. "We should always reflect and not forget how these projects have engendered economic developments along the routes that they have passed and even opened up areas that were previously cut off, insecure and underdeveloped," he says.

China Road and Bridge Corp, the firm responsible for the standard gauge railway project, has employed 27,000 people. The project is already contributing 2 percent of the GDP while promoting technology transfers and capacity building that has seen locals gain skills during on-job training. At least 60 graduates have traveled to China for specialized instruction on railway technology.

"The modern SGR will feed into the old-meter railway thus re-awakening the effectiveness of the sleeping infrastructure," Macharia says. "This is not only Kenya's project, but a visible outcome of Sino-African cooperation. We are soon hosting the president of Senegal, Macky Sall, who will come to witness the infrastructure transformation taking place."

Zhao says in pursuit of economic independence and sustainable development, Africa needs foreign investment and technology transfers, which China is well placed to offer.

"Both sides are willing to participate in sharing economic and social development experiences," Zhao says, adding that Chinese and African academic circles will unlock cooperation in economy and trade, science and technology, culture and education.

He says expectations are high that media from both sides would seize the main trend of cooperation and development and win-win cooperation, and recognize the importance of balanced media coverage.

He called for more research centers on Africa to be set up at Chinese universities while African universities and think tanks do research on China.

There is need for more exchanges between Chinese and African reporters and scholars for a long-term effective mechanism to be created, Zhao says.

Jaffar Mjasiri, a senior writer at the Tanzania Standard Newspaper, called for the formation of an official joint Sino-African news agency to enhance coordination of news content between China and African journalists.

Julius Idowu Enehikhuere, an assistant editor for the Nigeria News Agency, however, says a China-Africa Press Center is already in existence in Beijing and that he was part of the center last year.

The two-day symposium was organized by the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, China-Africa Development Fund and the African Consortium. Other organizers included the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, and the Chinese embassy in Kenya.

Philip Etyang contributed to this story.

Contact the writers through Lucymorangi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/19/2016 page30)