ECA Chief Formalizes Partnership With China to Promote Africa's Transformation

21 March 2016
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United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Addis Ababa)

Addis Ababa — The Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia, Kuang Weilin, will henceforth serve as China's Permanent Representative to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

While presenting his credentials today to ECA's Executive Secretary, Carlos Lopes, Ambassador Kuang said he was glad to be the first Permanent Representative of China to ECA, and that China counts on ECA for fresh ideas on how best to promote Africa's development.

Accompanied by ECA's Deputy Executive Secretary, Giovanie Biha, and the Director of Public Information and Knowledge Management Division, Jimmy Ocitti, Lopes expressed his delight with the Government of China for agreeing to formalize its relationship with ECA. "This will help us to access Chinese expertise and intellectual capacity and make it available to Africa," said Lopes.

Ambassador Kuang announced that following the Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which took place from 3 to 5 December 2015 in Johannesburg, China has allocated USD 6 billion towards investments and development in Africa over the next three years. Kuang added that this money would attract a further USD 100 billion in the form of investment from China's private sector, if used appropriately.

Carlos Lopes reassured the Chinese ambassador of ECA's support. He also emphasized that ECA is strengthening its role as a major think tank for Africa, and working more effectively with other pan-African institutions to support Africa's transformation agenda. Lopes also announced the launch of the ECA Country Profiles, which provide a quality assessment of economic forecasting for some African countries, among other things.

The Chinese ambassador promised to attend the African Development Week from March 31 to April 5 in Addis Ababa, which will also host the joint annual ECA-AU Conference of Ministers. He also expressed interest in paying closer attention to ECA's research papers, workshops and seminars. In discussions with the ECA delegation, Kuang noted that the sixth ministerial conference of the forum on China-Africa cooperation will be held in South Africa with the aim of mapping out China-Africa cooperation for the coming three years.

Read the original article on UNECA.

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