China-Africa relations: Wang Yi pledges Beijing will help Ethiopia recover and boost ties with Kenya and Nigeria
- China’s top diplomat makes a surprise stop in Addis Ababa and says Beijing is ‘willing to play a positive role in easing Ethiopia’s debt pressure’
- Wang is attending the Brics high representatives’ meeting on security affairs in South Africa early this week
The commitments came as part of senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi’s four-nation African tour, which will also include a visit to South Africa.
In a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Wang, a Politburo member and director of the Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, said China “is willing to play a positive role in easing Ethiopia’s debt pressure”, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.
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Abiy said he appreciated China’s strong support whenever Ethiopia faced difficulties and “regards China as a reliable and great friend”, actively taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative, according to the Chinese readout.
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Tim Zajontz, a research fellow in the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University, said Ethiopia had become an increasingly important strategic partner for China in the Horn of Africa, not only because it had received significant Chinese investments over time but also because Addis Ababa’s relations with Western nations had soured following the country’s civil war.
“Seeing a window of opportunity to deepen relations with Ethiopia, Beijing is likely to support the country’s recent application to join the Brics group,” Zajontz said. He said Wang might make the case for a gradual accession of Ethiopia to the grouping at the coming Brics meeting in Johannesburg.
From Ethiopia, Wang flew to Nairobi on Friday, where the new administration of William Ruto has intensified engagement with the United States and other Western countries in recent months.
China is Kenya’s largest bilateral lender and has financed infrastructure projects from railways to highways. During the presidential campaign last year, Chinese lending became a major political issue, with Ruto blaming the loans for Kenya’s debt troubles.
But in a meeting with Wang on Saturday, Ruto said Kenya was keen to strengthen its relations with China to spur economic growth. He presented key projects such as a major highway that passes through the Rift Valley to Western Kenya to the Chinese delegation.
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A French consortium, made up of Vinci Highways SAS, Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund and Vinci Concessions SAS, had won the contract to build the 233km (144-mile) Rironi-Naivasha-Nakuru-Mau Summit road but the Ruto administration cancelled the deal saying it was costly.
Aly-Khan Satchu, a sub-Saharan Africa geoeconomic analyst, said a cynic might argue that the government of Kenya had tapped out the West and its multilateral institutions and was now seeking to stabilise the relationship with its biggest bilateral creditor.
Satchu said he expected Kenya to explore “build, operate and transfer” (BOT) – a form of public private partnership – to steer away from government-to-government deals while the overarching priority was to improve the balance sheet.
Other projects Ruto presented to the Chinese delegation include upgrading Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and projects in the ports of Mombasa and Lamu.
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“We are ready to expedite discussions and conclude on details on the proposed projects for implementation,” Ruto said in a statement on Saturday he met Wang at the State House in Nairobi.
Wang said China was willing to advance belt and road cooperation, the Global Development Initiative and projects of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. He said China would actively promote cooperation with Kenya in the fields of railways, highways, aviation and information to help Kenya’s economic and social development.
“China will consider the Kenya government’s priority areas of interest,” Wang said.
On Sunday, Kenyan Transport and Infrastructure Minister Kipchumba Murkomen led a government delegation in a bilateral meeting with the Chinese team led by Deng Li, the vice-minister of foreign affairs.
“Our discussions were centred on pending projects in the roads and transport sector as discussed [on Saturday] with President Ruto. I am very pleased with the outcome of our engagement as we continue to widen and deepen our mutual relations,” Murkomen tweeted.
Further, it was not clear if China would finance the extension of the country’s railway that had stalled in Naivasha in 2018 after China Exim Bank declined to continue funding the railway project to Malaba at the Ugandan border.
Wang left Nairobi on Sunday for South Africa, where he will attend the Brics high representatives’ meeting on security affairs on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the summit next month.
Wang is also expected to visit Nigeria, the most populous country and largest economy in Africa and where Beijing has pumped billions of dollars into ports and railways.
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He said Kenya and Nigeria had new administrations following the election of Ruto in August and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assuming office in Nigeria in May.
“It is important for China to strengthen its diplomacy with these countries, even as the West amplifies diplomatic forays into Africa,” Cavince said.
Further, Cavince said there had been increased interest from Nairobi to attract additional Chinese investors into recently gazetted special economic zones. “China views Kenya as an important gateway to the continent and ready ground to globalise its companies,” he said.
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Zajontz, who also lectures in international relations at Dresden University of Technology, said both Kenya and Nigeria were major African economies and had been important trade partners and destinations for large-scale infrastructure investments from China.
“Beijing has a keen interest to get it off on the right foot with the new governments in Abuja and Nairobi, especially because Western powers have recently increased their own cooperation efforts with the two key states in East and West Africa,” Zajontz said.
