Tuesday, 03 April 2012 02:53

Newsletter 7

In this newsletter:

  • Afro China relations in the words of Standard Bank Group
  • Addis Ababa-Adama highway 31 percent complete
  • Chinese business chamber advises Tanzania

Afro China relations in the words of Standard Bank Group

Jeremy Stevens – Standard Bank Group economist – argues that China is set to become Africa's largest export destination this year, reflecting a dramatic alteration since 2008 when Africa exported half as much to China as it did to the US.

Underlining that China-Africa ties have continued to mature over the past decade, Stephens noted the existence of substantial the Afro-China political and economic milieu. China has been at the center of the re-calibration of Africa's trade and investment cords in a time of global slowdown.. Latest figures show that trade between China and Africa reached USD160 billion in 2011, up by 28% from the previous year. Last year, China accounted for 18% of Africa's trade (up from 10% in 2008).

Today, Africa and China matter more to one another than ever before. African imports from China expanded by 23.7%, increasing from USD59bn in 2010 to USD73bn in 2011. Last year, Africa sourced 16.8% of its imports from China (up from 4.5% in 2002). Meanwhile, Africa's importance to China also increased, accounted for 3.8% of China's exports (up from 2% in 2002). And impressively, Africa's imports from China increased by 4 pps faster than China's exports elsewhere.

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Addis Ababa-Adama highway 31 percent complete

The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) said the Addis Ababa-Adama road project being built at a cost of over 8 billion birr is progressing as per the schedule. Authority Communication Directorate Director, Samson Wondimu, told Walta information center on March 15, 2012 that the six-lane road project is now more than 31 percent complete.

According to Samson, the construction of the 80 km Addis Ababa-Adama expressway was launched in April, 2010 and is being constructed by the China Communications Construction Corporation (CCCC). The road will be ready for traffic in 2014, he added.

In addition to its socio–economic benefits, the road will have a significant contribution in alleviating the traffic jam and accidents being observed on the existing Adama-Addis Ababa road, he said. Moreover, the construction of the road is contributing a lot towards creating job opportunities and promoting knowledge transfer, Samson indicated.

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Chinese business chamber advises Tanzania

If security issued are paid a good attention and improves its physical infrastructures, Tanzania will attract more investment; according to the Chinese Business Chamber. The chairman of the chamber, Mr Janson Huang, said Tanzania has much potential but was losing billions of dollars from Chinese investments due to insecurity concerns among investors from the Asian economic giant coupled with the poor infrastructure, especially roads, he said.

On March 14, 2012 Mr Janson told higher officials they have noted investment potentials in mining, agriculture, energy and tourism which could attract more Chinese investors. In unison he underlined the skeptics of many investors regarding security issues and lack of proper infrastructure.

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Last modified on Tuesday, 03 April 2012 02:58