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Saturday, 15 September 2012 11:24

Newsletter 18

In this newsletter:

  • Kenya and Uganda in talks with China over joint railway
  • President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire: China's development is great opportunity to Africa
  • Rwanda leader seeks partnership with China

Kenya and Uganda in talks with China over joint railway

Kenya and Uganda are jointly negotiating with China to fund and construct a new standard gauge railway that will connect the two countries.

Kenya was in talks with China to facilitate the construction of a new line between Mombasa and Malaba, which is expected to improve the speed of cargo movement by up to three times

Also The government of Uganda is negotiating for funds to construct the stretch of the line that runs into its territory from the border point of Malaba.

Transport accounts for close to 40% of the total cost of doing business in Kenya. The construction of the railway will enhance overall efficiency of rail operations and increase quality and quantity of rolling stock.

Upgrading the railway will increase line speeds from the current 25 to 30 km per hour to 70 kilo meter per hour.

Though the amount of money dedicated for the railway wasn’t indicated, according to findings of a previous feasibility study the system would require about $4 billion

The new rail line is aimed at shifting traders who opt for trucks to move their cargo to high-speed trains that are more efficient

Once completed, the new line would take up about 70 per cent of the total cargo being moved by railway.

Other East African Community (EAC) members are also planning standard gauge railway lines to boost transport efficiency.

According to the blueprint Tanzania would be the largest beneficiary of that deal with eight new standard gauge lines linking it, including Ethiopia and Southern Sudan.

On a similar note, Nigeria has signed a deal to borrow $600 million from China, most of which will be used to build a railway servicing the capital Abuja and surrounding areas.

The Abuja railway, which is being built by the state-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, will cost $500 million and is due to be completed by 2015.

Nigeria expects in the next few weeks to sign off on another deal with China to borrow a further $500 million to build four airport terminals in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.

Source : af.reuters.com                                                                                                                                                                                               chinadaily.com.cn                                              

President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire: China's development is great opportunity to Africa

In an exclusive interview with a reporter from Xinhua News Agency President Alassane Dramane Ouattara said, "China's development is a great opportunity rather than a threat to Africa," calling on all African countries to strengthen co-operations with China.

 

"The countries and people of Africa enjoy an excellent relationship with China and Chinese people. The head quarter of the African Union built with China's aids in Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia) is good proof." Said Ouattara.

 

Ouattara told the reporter that he understood the importance of China in the international community and African countries are gradually realizing the important role of China in international affairs.

 

Ouattara pointed out China’s favorability in the international community stems from the stance it takes and the capital it provides and its huge investments in the public and private economic sectors in Africa. I urge all African countries to enhance co-operations with China, “said Ouattara.

 

 Ouattara called on Chinese companies to invest and develop in Cote d'Ivoire, which would contribute to the development of the local economy. In this respect, he told the reporter that "Cote d'Ivoire is one of the (African) countries that boast the optimal macroeconomic indicators: the annual economic growth rate approaches 8%, the debts account about 20% of the GDP, and the inflation rate is as low as 2%. Besides, our government officials are excellent, and the private economic sectors are active."

 

Ouattara said that China had been on the side of Cote d'Ivoire in international affairs all the time. He reaffirmed that Cote d'Ivoire would, as always, continue to support China in the African Union and international level because "Africa needs China, and China needs Africa, too". He emphasized that Cote d'Ivoire would always adhere to the one-China principle.

 

Source: Xinhua News Agency

 

Rwanda leader seeks partnership with China

Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president since 2000, requested for the reinforcement of Africa-China relations. He mentioned while attending World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2012 which took place Sept 11-13, that there are a lot of investment opportunities and resources in Africa. “China has the capital and technology. Africa has the resources, “he said in an interview “Bringing these together will benefit both China and Africa.”

China and Rwanda established diplomatic relations in 1971 which they have managed to maintain for more than four decades. The China-Rwanda trade in 2011 was worth $145million, which was up by 63.3 percent from the previous year.

This was fueled by the mutually beneficial relations the two countries have. Chinese government encourages its companies to not only invest in Rwanda but also transfer technology and knowledge to local firms. The Prime Minister of China, Wen Jiabao reaffirmed such efforts by their government in his meeting with Kagame on Sept. 11.

In spite of this, Western countries are criticizing China’s role in the continent as neo-colonialism, which Kagame strongly disagrees with.

 

He urged the continuation of the China-African collaboration to continue as it was seen to be productive in recent years.

He also called for potential global investors during another session on his country which was hosted by the Minister of Finance, John Rwangombwa and Acting CEO of the Rwandan Development Board, Clare Akamanzi. This event turned out to provide deep insight to investors from various sectors from around the globe many of which expressed a strong interest to invest in the country.

Source: chinadaily.com

Last modified on Wednesday, 05 December 2012 11:48