The government of the People’s Republic of China has said African countries can register a socio-economic breakthrough with foreign aid if they can align the international support they secure to their needs.
Deputy Director of Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, Mao Xiaojing, said the countries should understand key challenges they face and use the aid adequately to overcome them.
“I think the countries, even though they are recipients of aid, should be on the driver’s seat. They should have an understanding of their key challenges and make their own development plans. They should use, adequately, the aid budget to keep in line with their development plans so as to meet their key challenges,” she said
She made the remarks at the 2018 Seminar for All-media Reporters of Developing Countries currently under way in Beijing, China.
The African continent receives a significant part of the Asian country’s foreign aid in form of infrastructure projects, technical and human resource development cooperation, among others.
Xiaojing further said, with clear guidelines for selection of projects and suitable technologies, Africa can make economic gains.
“There are some technologies which are more important [than others] for sustained development. There is also need for infrastructure development [plans]; [such as] the issue of roads [by] knowing which road project can generate economic benefits so that they can help to bring more opportunities to the country,” she said
She said, despite being recipients of aid, countries should also stick to the policy of being self-reliant.
Reporters from 14 African countries are participating in the training.
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