By Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku
Abuja, Nigeria – China has announced plans to provide $10billion of trade finance to support African export to China.
Zhang Xijia, an official of the Chinese Embassy in Abuja who made this announcement at a seminar in Abuja on promoting Win-Win cooperation & building better friendship said that the funds will go through the ‘green lanes’ agricultural exports to China program.
“Under the investment programme, China will encourage its businesses to invest no less than $10bn in Africa in the next three years, and will establish a platform for China-Africa private investment promotion,” Mr. Xijia said.
Mr. Xijia told participants at the seminar that Nigeria is China’s largest African trading partner with a volume of trade between both countries reaching a record high $26billion.
“That is almost 3 times of trade between China and Ghana, 4 times of Kenya and 6 times of Cameroon. China is not only doing mutually benefitting trade, China is also investing heavily in Nigeria.
“In 2020, China invested more than 300million in Nigeria, and Chinese companies helped to build the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Abuja Railway and numerous electricity projects,” Mr. Xijia said.
The seminar was a collaboration between the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China and the China Alumni Association of Nigeria.
Mr. Mohammed Suleiman, president of the China Alumni Association if Nigeria said that the aim of the seminar was to strengthen the exchanges and cooperation in all fields and improve the traditional friendship between China and Nigeria.
“The year 2020 not only witnessed the 51st Anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties between Nigeria and China, but also sees the 4th Anniversary of Nigeria’s formal membership of BRI, the Belt and Road Initiative which Nigeria joined at a summit in Beijing in 2018’, a statement jointly signed by Suleiman and Li Xuda, Chinese cultural counsellor said.
