Africa Top Success Ils font l'Afrique
The African Union (AU) and China concluded a draft agreement in order to cooperate on large infrastructure networks and the industrialization process in Africa.
The chairwoman of the AU Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and the special representative and Vice Minister for the Foreign Affairs of China, Zhang Ming, signed this agreement concerning the continental transports, high speed rails, aviation, highways and industrialization. The signing ceremony took place last Tuesday in the AU head office in Addis Ababa, the capital town of Ethiopia, outside the 24th summit of the AU that started Friday with the 29th session of the AU Permanent Representatives Commission (PRC).
This draft agreement is within the framework of the planning 2063 by the AU aiming at accelerating the continental integration in Africa according to the AU.
Both parts concluded this agreement on the basis of the discussions between Mrs. Dlamini-Zuma and the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, during the visit of the Prime Minister to the AU head office last year.
« During our discussions, we agreed that we needed to cooperate with China in a number of domains, at the continental level, and mainly in the infrastructure sector », evoked the chairwoman of the AU commission.
Explaining that the Africans aspired to live in prosperous, united and peaceful Africa, managed by the citizens of this continent, the chairwoman appreciated this draft agreement as an important moment.
She also revealed that the teams and the sub-commissions already started tackling the detailed questions depending on the cooperation between both countries in these domains.
Every sector is represented by one sub-commission to work if necessary on the details of projects such as starting point, costs, means among others, reported the chairwoman.
Expressing herself on the China-Africa relations, the chairwoman underlined that these two countries benefited from long-term historic relations and a continuous increasing cooperation.
« This will be the first continental project jointly managed by Africa and China for years », she said. « This relation and particularly cooperation in this context takes an additional dimension, a higher level ».
According to Zhang Ming, this agreement includes cooperation regarding infrastructures and industrialization that will be carried within the framework of the cooperation associating China and AU, because the AU plays coordinator’s role in their implementation.
China has a solid experience and efficient technologies in the domains of the high-speed railroads, highways, aviation and of industrialization, projects he said.
Original text by: Xinhua
