President Xi promises stronger relations with Africa

– Chinese President Xi Jinping promises to strengthen economic ties with Africa while it is in Senegal to begin his journey in several countries of the continent.

Xi arrives in Senegal on Saturday for a two-day trip to sign the bilateral agreement, as reported by Reuters.

From Senegal, he will also travel to Rwanda and South Africa to attend the BRICS Summit: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Africa is a continent that has been flooded with cheap loans from China instead of ores and construction projects.

China is now negotiating more with Africa than any other country, and its constant attention on the continent, unlike the United States. President Donald Trump showed little interest in Africa

This visit was Xi's first trip to West Africa as president, but his fourth trip to Africa, was he said at a joint press conference with Senegalese President Macky Sall. When I come to Africa, I see the dynamism of this continent and the aspirations of its people for development, "Xi said." I firmly believe in the future of Sino-African relations. "

Xi was greeted by senior officials and hundreds of people who waved the Chinese and Senegalese flags and wore shirts to the faces of the two leaders.This infrastructure project, administered and financed cheaply by the China, is part of the initiative "Belt and Roads" launched by Xi to build a transport network connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Europe and Africa has pledged $ 126 billion in loans to a plan hailed by its supporters as a vital source of funding for the developing world.

In Senegal, Chinese loans are used to finance the highway linking the capital Dakar to Touba, its main city the, of the industrial zone of the peninsula of Dakar.

The Chinese ambbadador to Senegal, Zhang Xun, quoted by local media on Mare t, said the total Chinese investment in the country reached 100 million dollars in 2017.

"The Senegal positively sees China's role in Africa, "Sall told a news conference. "For its contribution to peace, stability and parity … to finance the budget."

But critics say that Africa has weighed on China by tens of billions of dollars, and the continent would struggle to repay its debt. This could make African countries obliged to sell shares of their strategic badets to China.

US officials have warned that a port in Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa, could suffer this fate, although Djibouti rejects fear. In the country, the United States and France have military bases.

In Guinea, one of the most discriminating countries in the world, China lends $ 20 billion to the government in exchange for an aluminum ore dealership.

minerals, China also considers Africa as a source of political support. Chinese diplomacy, since May this year, has managed to ensure that all African countries, except Swaziland, break their ties with Taiwan, a country that Beijing sees as its province of challenge.

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Edited by: Heppy Ratna Sari
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