President Uhuru: Ties with China will boost economic growth

Sustained strategic partnership with China will help accelerate Africa’s development and contribute to world peace, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said. He said the mutually beneficial and respectful ties between Africa and China resonated with the 10-point cooperation plan presented by President Xi Jinping at the opening of the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg on Friday.

He said the Chinese leader’s proposal to establish partnership with Africa based on mutual trust at the political front and a win-win cooperation at the economic front was a step in the right direction.

“President Xi was not just all talk. He put $60 billion on the table to back his statement,” President Kenyatta said. He added: “China and Africa have the potential to achieve great things together. So let us do them.”

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta and China President Xi Jinping. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

The President spoke on Saturday during the Johannesburg China-Africa summit. He said the enhanced cooperation with China is also in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 which seeks a peaceful, united and prosperous Africa.

“FOCAC is one of the strategic partnerships identified in Agenda 2063 as a key enabler to achieving the development goals of the African continent,” he said.

He underscored the need to follow the fundamental principles of economy and build a market that is open and dynamic for the benefit of the people of Africa and China.

“Traction for growth is always found in people. The diversity of people in any country must be harnessed to become an engine, and never a distraction, for powerful growth,” he added.