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Cooperate towards Africa's development- Prof Yang urges donors
The Director-General of China's Institute of West Asian and African Studies, (IWAAS), Professor Yang Guang has called on donor countries across the world to concentrate on their advantages in their quest to support the development of Africa.
He said China was not in Africa to compete with the continent's traditional donors but was rather on the continent to cooperate with the various countries through investments and trade on a win-win basis.
"China alone cannot solve the problems of Africa", he said and called for cooperation between the donor community for the sake of the development of Africa.
Professor Yang was briefing nine visiting senior African journalists about the work of the institute in Beijing.
The institute, which is under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), is the largest comprehensive academic entity dedicated to research on West Asia and Africa covering 73 countries in the Middle East and Africa.
It conducts research in historical evolution, social development, nation states, religions and cultures as well as ethnic groups in these regions.
The institute also provide counseling service to Chinese businessmen who would want to invest in Africa by organising seminars and conferences annually.
Prof Yang observed that while the traditional Western donors were concentrating their efforts on the provision of financial support to African countries to balance their budgets, China preferred to provide its assistance through direct project investments.
"It is good for each of us to concentrate on our advantages. In any case if it is geared towards the development of Africa, the better", he stated.
Prof Yang advised African countries to research into the needs of Chinese and gear their efforts towards the importation of such products into the Chinese market.
It was the only way to further increase the volume of China's imports from Africa, he said.
Prof Yang said there was the need for the development of the gas potentials of the various African countries so that the excess gas could be exported to China since every year China increase its gas imports by 100 per cent.
He observed that currently a lot of a lot of Chinese dresses were being exported to African countries and called for a conscious efforts to introduce Chinese to African wear since that could also could be an avenue for profit making venture for Africans.
In 2009, China became Africa's number one trade partner and since then the trade relations between the two sides have continued to grow year after year.
The total volume of China-Africa trade reached $198.49 billion with a year-on-year growth of 19.3 per cent in 2012.
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