SEMINAR ON CHINA-AFRICA INFRASTRUCTURE COOPERATION

AERC, in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Kenya and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development in Kenya, convened a seminar on China-Africa infrastructure cooperation in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya in June. The seminar attracted over 100 participants, most of them policy makers, senior government officials and ambassadors from African countries based in Nairobi, Kenya. The seminar provided insights into issues related to China-Africa Infrastructure Cooperation in Africa, with a focus on the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

The seminar’s main objective was to identify opportunities and challenges, along with lessons drawn from projects currently in place, within Eastern African states in promoting an enabling environment for economic development through the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR and related infrastructure investments.

To help inform the discussions and deliberations a comprehensive paper was presented on the specific themes relating to the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR and other infrastructure investments supported under China-Africa economic cooperation. Participants considered and discussed steering economic development along the railway corridor, promoting technology transfer and human resources development, deepening cooperation in investment and financing, and protecting the local ecological environment.

AERC’s research project – China-Africa Infrastructure Cooperation in Africa – was motivated by the realisation that the rapid and sustained expansion of the economy of China has been associated with intensification of its economic relations with various African countries, presenting both opportunities and challenges………