How the partnership has blossomed

The World Bank Group has been the largest multilateral development bank providing development assistance in Africa for many decades.

With its twin goals of eradicating poverty and promoting shared prosperity globally in a sustainable manner, and given the under-development of sub-Saharan Africa, the WBG has always accorded a high priority to supporting the economic growth and social development in this region.

In recent years, China has emerged as the largest single bilateral investor in Africa, as well as the continent's largest trading partner. The rapid expansion of China-Africa engagement has been seen as spurring growth, accelerating infrastructure development and economic transformation in African countries.

As development assistance from China and the WBG, both financial and technical, often intersects in many African countries, it has become increasingly clear that it is mutually beneficial for them to collaborate.

For the WBG, this is no different from what it has been undertaking with other traditional bilateral development partners in leveraging the finance and technical capacity of its partners.

To this end, over the past four years, WBG has entered into memorandums of understanding with China Eximbank and China Development Bank, the two main Chinese institutions in the provision of development assistance in Africa, to develop a framework of collaboration. These MOUs recognize the synergies and complementary strengths of their development programs in the African region, and set the priority areas of collaboration in information and knowledge sharing, provision of technical assistance, promotion of South-South cooperation and parallel financing for key infrastructure projects.

Under these MOUs, various forms of tripartite collaboration between WBG, China and African countries started to materialize.

The Investing in Africa Forum, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2015 was an important milestone of this tripartite collaboration. Co-organized by the government of Ethiopia, CDB, WBG and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the forum promoted knowledge-sharing, demonstrated the convening power of the WBG and fostered more in-depth collaboration among partners.

With the theme Partnering to Accelerate Investment, Industrialization and Results in Africa, it brought together more than 200 participants from China and African countries, the private sector, regional institutions and development partners to explore practical steps to accelerate investment and industrialization in Africa.

The success of the first Investing in Africa Forum gave rise to the institutionalization of the forum, with Guangdong province of China hosting the second one in Guangzhou in September 2016, and the third being planned for Senegal in 2017.

The forum in Guangzhou, co-organized by Guangdong government, CDB and WBG, and with the participation of government officials and private sector entrepreneurs from more than 20 African countries and China, witnessed further progress in the tripartite collaboration.

As well as sharing experience and knowledge, agreements were signed for a range of investment projects. Moreover, the Investing in Africa Think Tank Alliance was launched and an MOU on Energy Cooperation in Africa between the WBG and China's National Energy Administration was signed.

Also, the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, private sector arms of the WBG, were invited by China to co-run a business promotion session with CDB to promote investment opportunities in Africa.

The objective of IATTA is to serve as an open and inclusive partnership platform to promote knowledge - and experience - sharing and analytical cooperation among think tanks from Africa, China and other development partners, as well as international development agencies.

The intention is to combine global development knowledge with investment capital, financial expertise and country presence in order to increase investment and promote greater economic development in Africa under the framework of Agenda 2063 of the Africa Union.

The WBG-China collaboration on energy builds on comparative advantages of both sides. The WBG is actively engaged across the African continent to support the expansion of energy access and services. The NEA also has rich experience in transferring China's own development experience and technological know-how, as well as a strong capacity in equipment manufacturing and operating and in financing energy systems and supply.

The MOU highlights the scope of cooperation on clean and renewable energy, including solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, natural gas, as well as support to power grid.

Under the tripartite partnership framework, the WBG has also started co-financing priority infrastructure projects in SSA countries with China in recent years. The first such project that reached financial closure is the construction of a 200 kilometer expressway between Modjo and Hawassa in Ethiopia, in which WBG co-finances the project along with China Eximbank, Korea Eximbank and African Development Bank. This is another critical milestone in WBG-China collaboration in Africa since such co-financing projects require all financiers to follow the same technical design, environmental and social impact management, as well as project oversight and monitoring framework.

Similarly, the co-financing agreement for a road upgrading project in South Sudan is near completion. More projects are also being identified in energy sector cooperation in Africa between the WBG and NEA of China.

The WBG is committed in deepening and expanding its partnership with China in support for Africa's development. Collaboration in more sectors, including agriculture, public health and manufacturing, is already planned for the immediate future.

Having served as a two-term country director for the World Bank in Africa over the last five years, I have personally witnessed the increasing collaboration between the WBG and China in SSA, and directly engaged in a range of tripartite collaborative activities.

I strongly believe such partnership will accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals of SSA countries and the WBG's twin goals of poverty eradication and shared prosperity.

The author is currently the senior director of the WBG's Water Global Practice. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/28/2016 page9)