China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Africa
Speaker: Hussain Askary
Board Member
The belt and road institute in Sweden
The population of the African continent is so young. Around 60% of Africa's population is younger than 25 years, and more than a third between 15-34 years old. By 2100, Africa should still have the youngest population worldwide with a median age of 35.On the other hand, 0-59-year-olds make up the largest age group in Germany, at 23.6 million people. The most recent figures from 2019 confirm that the next-largest age group was 65 years and older, at 18.09 million.
China's Digital Silk Road is an ambitious vision to catalyze global digitalization. The DSR aims to improve digital connectivity in participating countries, with China as the main driver of the process.
According to the World Bank, 300 million people are further than 50 km away from close broadband fiber optics connection. Only a28percent of African use the internet. There is a huge gap in digitalization like modern telecommunication technologies. I believe that rythminno will contribute lots to digitalizing the African continent through its services..
People talk about the fourth industrial revolution. Without electricity, you cannot have digitalization.
Africa should focus on infrastructure projects, Transportation, power, education, and healthcare. It is called Chinese all-around development. The African continent has the capability to produce 100,000-megawatt electricity by hydropower plant. The easiest way to solve the power problem in Africa also is coal power. The African continent has enough coal to produce electricity to use Chinese modern technologies that do not do too much environmental pollution. Africa has a long historical relationship with China.
China gets support from African countries and African countries get support from China in the past.
President Xi, in FOCAC Summit Johannesburg, 2015:
- Industrialization is an inevitable path to a country’s economic success. Within a short span of several decades, China has accomplished what took developed countries hundreds of years to accomplish and put in place a complete industrial system within an enormous production capability”.
- “It is entirely possible for Africa, as the world’s most promising region in terms of development potential, to bring into play its advantages and achieve great success. The achievement of inclusive and sustainable development in Africa hinges on industrialization, which holds the key to creating jobs, eradicating poverty, and improving people’s living standards.”
The “bottleneck” of development:
- Shortage of capital: China provided loans and FDI to infrastructure and agriculture projects in Africa:
- 2015-2018: 60 US dollar billion
- 2019-2022: 60 US dollar billion
- Shortage of Skills Labour: China is the 2nd position for African students to study abroad. Where Chinese students could learn essential skills
- Lack of Infrastructure: Prime minister Li Keqiang said that China will help to connect all African capitals by high-speed railway or Standard gauge railway. The main barrier is to trade with African countries is cost. The cost of trade between Rwandan and Burundi is three times than the cost of trade between Asian countries and Germany.
Belt and Road initiative is game-changing for developing counties to manage to finance the urgently needed projects.
Content Writer: Moshiur Rahman Bhuiyan
Community Manager, Rythminno
Reference:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/454349/population-by-age-group-germany/
