The agreement was the result of a high-level seminar between the African Union (AU) and Beijing’s mission to the organization, which saw the participation of authorities from African countries, the Chinese government, members of the diplomatic community in Ethiopia, and representatives of financial and academic institutions, among others.

The general director of the AU Commission, Fathallah Sijilmassi, said that the meeting comes at a very opportune time as it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Initiative.

He further expressed: “Stronger cooperation between China and Africa can only advance by realizing the goals of the Belt and Road Initiative. China is one of Africa’s largest partners, and the continent values its partnership with China”.

He considered that in addition to evaluating and assessing the work carried out to date and the actions to be implemented shortly, the most important thing is to see together how to guarantee predictable and sustainable financial support for cooperation between both parties.

The head of the Chinese mission to the AU, Hu Changchun, recalled that during the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, held last October in Beijing, China announced eight important measures to support the Initiative’s high-quality cooperation.

“Over the past 10 years, China has actively aligned the Initiative with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, as well as the infrastructure development plans and strategies of African nations,” he stressed.

The seminar was held on Wednesday under the theme “Financial support for Belt and Road cooperation between China and Africa”. This event evaluated forms of trade and project financing, payments, and cross-border agreements between both sides, as well as practices to help African countries obtain financing.

China signed cooperation documents with over 150 countries and 30 international organizations and established more than three thousand cooperation projects and almost one trillion dollars of investment.

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