This morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, President Kagame joined leaders from the continent and from China for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit.
President Kagame co-chairs a high-level session on state governance alongside Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress & Member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
Despite new challenges and opportunities emerging in the world; President Kagame is confident that the partnership between Africa and China will only continue to grow stronger.
“As new challenges and opportunities emerge on the global front, we are confident that the partnership between Africa and China will only continue to grow stronger. Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, we have made significant gains in trade, industrial cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges, demonstrating the vitality of South-South cooperation”, President Kagame said in his intervention.
“Africa stands ready to build on this prevailing momentum, in particular through participation in the three Global Initiatives, on Development, Security, and Civilization, proposed by President Xi Jinping. However, to do so, we must remain mindful of the importance of effective state governance, and support each other to do the right things for our people.” President Kagame added this in his remarks.
At the opening ceremony, Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to create “at least” one million jobs in Africa as he seeks to position Beijing as the development partner of choice for the Global South.
Speaking at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation today, Xi said China would provide African countries 360 billion yuan ($51bn) in new financing and support 30 infrastructure projects to boost connectivity across the continent.
Addressing delegates from more than 50 African nations gathered in Beijing for the forum, he said 210 billion yuan ($29.6bn) of the financing would be disbursed through credit lines and at least 70 billion yuan ($9.9bn) in new investment by Chinese companies, with smaller amounts provided through military aid and other projects.
The financial assistance would be in yuan, in an apparent bid to further internationalise the Chinese currency.
More than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending this week’s China Africa forum, according to state media.
Addressing the leaders at the forum’s opening ceremony in Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning, Xi hailed ties with the continent as in their “best period in history”.(End).