China Announces Fresh $60bn Assistance For Nigeria, Other African Countries

The President of the Republic of China, Xi Jinping, on Monday, announced a fresh assistance of $60bn to finance infrastructure in Africa.

He said this at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, in which President Muhammadu Buhari is participating.

The Edo State Government said it was well on its way to clinch a chunk of the $60bn penciled down as financial support by the Chinese government for the continent.

The Chinese President explained that the $60bn financing assistance would include $15bn grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans.

He said the amount also involved $20bn of credit lines, $10bn special fund for development financing and another $5bn as special fund for financing imports from Africa.

He also said Chinese companies were encouraged to make at least $10bn of investment in Africa in the next three years.

Jinping said the grant was in honour of his country’s promise made to Africa in 2015, adding that China would exempt certain African countries from outstanding debts incurred in the form of interest-free Chinese government loans due by the end of 2018.

But the Chinese President explained that funds being invested in Africa were not for “vanity projects” but meant to build infrastructure that could remove development bottlenecks.

He also told officials of Chinese firms during a business forum before the start of a triennial China-Africa summit that they had to respect local people and the environment where they operated.

He added, “China does not interfere in Africa’s internal affairs and does not impose its own will on Africa. What we value is the sharing of development experience and the support we can offer to Africa’s national rejuvenation and prosperity.”