S. Africa hails China’s $50 bn pledge as ‘great boon’ for continent
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday called Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s pledge of $50 billion in financing to Africa over the next three years a “great boon” for the continent.
Xi earlier told leaders from more than 50 African nations that the Chinese government was willing to provide financial support amounting to 360 billion yuan ($50.7 billion) over the coming three years.
More than half of that will be in credit, he said, with $11 billion “in various types of assistance” as well as $10 billion through encouraging Chinese firms to invest.
Visiting African leaders secured a plethora of deals this week for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy in talks around the three-day summit that wraps up Friday.
Ramaphosa told media on Thursday evening that “As the most industrialised country on the African continent, South Africa stands to benefit immensely from this relationship.”
