China announces $60 billion in financial support to Africa

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday offered another $60 billion financing tranche for Africa, while he scrapped some debt for poorer countries in the continent.

Speaking at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, President Xi stated that the new $60 billion would comprise $15 billion of aid, interest-free loans and concessional loans, with a $20 billion credit line, a $10 billion special fund for China-Africa development and a $5 billion fund for imports from the continent.

Chinese firms will also be encouraged to invest at least $10 billion in Africa over the coming three years, he added.

In addition, government debt due for China by the end of 2018 will be cancelled for poor African nations and developing ones as well.

“China-Africa cooperation must give Chinese and African people tangible benefits and successes that can be seen, that can be felt,” he said.

Xi also promised development that people on the continent could see and touch, but that would also be green and sustainable.

Without providing details, he stated that China would establish peace and security fund and a related forum, as it continue to offer military aid for the African Union (AU).

Moreover, he stressed in an earlier business forum, that China’s cooperation was geared towards major bottlenecks to development.

“Resources for our cooperation are not to be spent on any vanity projects but in places where they count the most,” he said

Between 2000 and 2016, China offered Africa around $125 billion, according to data from the China-Africa Research Initiative by Washington-based Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.