China Southern mulls new Africa flight

Airline to follow up Guangzhou-Nairobi service with link to Egypt or Nigeria

China Southern Airlines is looking into launching its second direct flight to Africa, according to a senior executive.

The possible destinations are Cairo in Egypt or Lagos in Nigeria, says Wu Weijun, general manager of the carrier's operation in Kenya.

The airline started offering direct services from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, in August last year. It also extended flights to others cities through a code-share agreement with Kenya Airways.

At a ceremony in late August to celebrate the first anniversary of the Nairobi link, Wu said that the flight and code share stemmed from the intensifying market demand and closer trade, economic and cultural exchanges between China and Africa created by the Belt and Road Initiative.

The airline may gain confidence in the African market after a study by Guangdong government's development research center into the province's investments across the continent.

In its report, released on Aug 29, the center says Guangdong's trade with Africa was worth $43.1 billion last year, accounting for 24.1 percent of the national total, up from 18 percent in 2011.

Wang Yiyang, head of the center, says the province's closer relations with Africa can be found in the areas of investment, education and tourism.

He says businesspeople from Guangdong have set up 28 investment projects worth a combined $510 million in Africa last year, triple the number in 2014, utilizing $73 million in capital, more than double the amount in 2014.

The number of Guangdong-funded projects was 176 by the end of last year, with a total contract value of $1.5 billion, most of which was carried out by the private sector, Wang adds.

He says the Ogun Free Trade Zone in Nigeria, one of the first eight free trade zones abroad approved by the Chinese government, has become an "exemplary model" after copying the successful development of such zones in Guangdong.

Bilateral scientific and technological cooperation has been on the fast track, too, Wang says, citing examples such as Foshan University's cooperation with South Africa on crucial technology for corn production.

In education, the province took in 4,508 African students as well as trained 621 healthcare officials and technicians from more than 30 African countries last year.

Meanwhile, 658,600 tourists from Guangdong visited Africa last year, up 126 percent on 2014, while 353,400 went the other way, down 5.6 percent, Wang adds.

zhanlisheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/02/2016 page28)