Fund enlists Chinese companies' support

Firms investing in Africa are paying more attention to corporate social responsibilities

The China-Africa Development Fund has vowed to help bring Africa out of poverty and generate more economic opportunities for the continent, but put the onus on Chinese companies to help them accomplish these goals.

"To further help Africa reduce poverty, Chinese corporations need to come up with increasing investment in Africa and foster better corporate social responsibility practices," says Chi Jianxin, chairman of the China-Africa Development Fund.

"Direct investment from China will play a key role in fostering a better future and relationship between China and Africa."

Chi made the remarks during a conference in Beijing held by the fund and the International Poverty Reduction Center in China. During the meeting, the two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding to work in tandem to reduce poverty in Africa.

The fund has invested in several Chinese corporations, including China-Africa Agriculture Investment Co Ltd, China Star Corp, China Africa Lekki Investment Ltd, Humanwell Healthcare Group Co Ltd and China Africa Cotton Development Ltd to help jumpstart economies across Africa.

As Chinese outbound investments and the demand for overseas project financing grow, the China Africa Development Fund has prioritized poverty reduction and social development measures in Africa, says Yang Aiwu, deputy CEO and executive vice-president of the China-Africa Development Fund.

The fund has invested in about 50 enterprises that have provided about 70,000 direct and 1.17 million indirect jobs across the continent, he says.

Those corporations have also built four hospitals, nine roads and numerous schools in Africa. They have also organized job training sessions.

By the end of last year, the fund approved 80 investment projects in 34 African countries with an investment of $3 billion, according to the fund. The projects mainly involved power generation, agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing and construction.

The fund says that once the projects are all implemented, they will benefit more than a million people across the continent, achieve more than $2 billion in annual export earnings and increase tax revenues by more than $1 billion a year.

Humanwell Healthcare Group, headquartered in Hubei province, says it has established channels to provide medical aid and provide AIDS prevention training to African countries.

China-Africa Cotton Development, a company jointly founded in 2009 by the China-Africa Development Fund and two other companies in Shandong province, has invested about $60 million in several African countries, including Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, to support more than 200,000 farming households with their cottonseed processing plants.

The development fund's investment in Africa has greatly expanded in the last few years, exceeding $25 billion by the end of 2013, compared with just $9.33 billion in 2009.

As more and more Chinese companies flock to Africa, especially in financial services, telecommunications, energy, manufacturing and agriculture, the fund says more are paying attention to their corporate social responsibilities.

The China-Africa Development Fund was established in 2007. Initiated by China Development Bank Corp, it was initiated with $1 billion of seed money and added $3 billion in its second phase. It is expected to reach $5 billion in the near future.

President Xi Jinping has on many occasions said that China's friendship with Africa is based on mutual benefit, mutual support and common development.

"China's aid to Africa has also been on the rise, together with its rise in investments," Yang says.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/30/2015 page21)