The Economic Commission for Africa meets the Chinese Development Commission on the implementation of the Belts and Roads Initiative

Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), met Friday with a delegation of the National Commission for Development and Reform of China (NDRC) and had fruitful discussions on the implementation of the ambitious "belt and road" initiative.

This visit follows the signing of the framework for action on the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road between ECA and the NDRC in April 2019.

Mr. Zhai Dongsheng, General Manager of the Belt and Road Initiative Center (BRIC), led the Chinese delegation.

Discussions between Ms. Songwe and Mr. Zhai focused on identifying concrete steps to operationalize the framework for action between the two organizations under the belt and roads initiative.

The head of the ES secretariat highlighted the possibilities of concrete commitments on growing investments, public-private partnerships (PPPs), digitization, energy connectivity, rail and transport in Africa, exploiting the synergies of the BIS and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

They agreed on the need for joint collaboration in major areas of transport, railways, energy and digitization; underlined the importance of the digital economy and the need to focus on pilot projects that can demonstrate the results of the BIS.

"We have successfully brought the African perspective and the BIS initiative together in a constructive way for the African continent and China. We are now interested in what we can do concretely so that the BIS will move more quickly to the second phase of implementation, "said the Executive Secretary of ECA.

Ms. Songwe and Mr. Zhai also agreed to jointly train African leaders in PPPs for energy and infrastructure projects, with ECA continuing to badist the continent in formulating recommendations that can help address food and connectivity issues. .

"We are focusing the second phase of the BIS on implementation and we can work together on a number of specific projects," said Zhai.

The BIS was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 with the main objectives of policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unhindered trade, financial integration and strengthening of people-to-people ties.