Beijing – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s pledge on Thursday of $50 billion in financing to Africa over the next three years a “great boon” for the continent.
“I am very positively disposed to the amount of money Xi announced today. I think it will be a great boon to the African continent,” he told a news conference in Beijing during a state visit that included attending the China-Africa forum.
Xi earlier told leaders from more than 50 African nations that the Chinese government was willing to provide financial support amounting to 360 billion yuan ($50.7 billion) over the next three years.
More than half of that will be in credit, he said, with $11 billion “in various types of assistance” as well as $10 billion through encouraging Chinese firms to invest.
Visiting African leaders secured a plethora of deals this week for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy in talks around the three-day summit that wraps up Friday.
[WATCH] “China has never been a colonial power. I don’t believe that it’s a relationship that is oppressive or neo-colonial.” President Cyril Ramaphosa says the relationship between South Africa and China is mutual and based on good intentions. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/cS6dOUPzQz
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) September 5, 2024
“As the most industrialised country on the African continent, South Africa stands to benefit immensely from this relationship,” Ramaphosa said.
China has been accused of saddling countries with huge debts as it seeks to grow its influence on the world stage, including its vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
Asked about the risk of China pulling African countries into debt, Ramaphosa said: “I don’t necessarily buy in the notion that when China invests, it is with an intention of, in the end, ensuring that those countries end up in a debt trap.”
“I don’t subscribe and believe that it’s a relationship that is oppressive, that is … neocolonial.
“It should be seen as a mutually beneficial relationship that is based on recognition, respect, and also of advancing each country’s own development.
“China is much more focused on the development of countries on our continent,” he said.
Ramaphosa said of the yawning trade imbalance between China and Africa that Xi had told him he wanted to see “more goods in China from South Africa”.
“To this end, he has even opened up voluntarily the Chinese market for African countries to come and exploit this Chinese market,” Ramaphosa told journalists.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Source: AFP
Picture: X/@GovernmentZA
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
