ADDIS ABABA, Jan 11 (Reuters) – China signed a deal with the African Union on Friday to build a $61 million convention centre at the organisation’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Beijing would fund the project, due to be finished by 2011, and was committed to helping the continent develop itself.
“China believes integration is in the best interest of African countries,” Yang told reporters during a visit. “Africa has every right to develop its resources to become a far more prosperous continent and China is committed to help.”
Yang, who is visiting South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Ethiopia, is the latest of several senior Chinese officials to come to Africa as Beijing taps the continent’s natural resources to fuel its booming economy.
China, the world’s fourth-largest economy and second-largest energy user, has extended billions in oil-backed loans and other forms of credit to African nations, with few strings attached, unlike financing from Western banks and international agencies.
Its growing presence has rattled Western nations that had previously dominated trade on the world’s poorest continent. (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Tim Pearce)
3 thoughts on “China to build $61 million AU centre in Addis Ababa”
Piece-meal, Africa’s dependency on the West is fading away as the Chinese are penetrating the continent of Africa on various areas. What do the West do now about Africa’s proclivity to do business with China rather than with the West?
Hey my fellow ethiopian people,let’s weak up!!!!!!!!china is taking over our country from us. The way i see it, all the roads direct us to being a modern chines slaves, like as the kenyans who are working for the Indians in their own country and the south africans who are still in slavery for the white people. It won’t be far for us to end up as these poeple who are living in the slams and not get equal education as the whites or Indians.
We, as African people must be mindful of history, at all times. No other people have ever shown the proper respect for us. They have come among us to conquer us, control us, and rape our land of our resources. We must make sure that past slave master slave histories and relationships are not repeated. We must be sure to learn and re-learn all of the wonderful building skills that we posessed in the past. The conquering of our people and continent caused us to be left behind in acquiring and developing much of the newer skills and technologies, and all that came with the industrial age. However, we can catch up to the rest of the developed world, as we are very intelligent, resourceful, just, and God loving people. We have just been too trusting of others. We must make sure that our people learn the skills necessary to develop our own cities, rual and coastal areas, and build our own roads, and infrastructure. We must become a truly independent people and develop healthy recipricol relationships with others that represent the best interests of our people.