China is playing a key role in enabling Africa to realize its full potential in energy and infrastructure across the continent, says Elham Mahmood Ibrahim, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy.
She was speaking to reporters on Friday at the sidelines of the ongoing 27th AU Summit in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.
Ibrahim told Xinhua that African countries would actively engage with China as they embarked on the next phase of infrastructure transformation alongside development of clean energy.
"Africa cannot enjoy greater prosperity until the continent boosts its infrastructure and builds more clean energy. We are partnering with the Chinese government along with Chinese investors to help us realize our infrastructure development agenda," Ibrahim said.
For the past decades, the Chinese government has facilitated the development in African countries with investment and infrastructure funding deals worth billions of dollars which helped create jobs and boost growth.
The AU is looking at infrastructure development as an important driver of development across the continent which will improve the competitiveness of countries and helping to integrate the continent into the global economy.
According to the Word Bank, only 38 percent of the African population has access to electricity, and less than 10 percent has internet access.
Chinese construction firms are rapidly involving themselves in the development of infrastructure in sub-Saharan African countries.
Last year, the Chinese government announced 10 major plans for China-Africa cooperation in the next three years, covering various areas including infrastructure and green development. China will offer 60 billion U.S. dollars for the implementation of the cooperation plans. Enditem
