Richard Attias is an eternal optimist and someone who believes that Chinese entrepreneurs will play a big role in the transformation of Africa.
Hu Jieguo: vice-chairman of the China-Africa Business Council and president of West-Africa Golden Gate Group:
Industrialization is perhaps the most potent force that can help Africa sustain or improve its current growth levels. With its carefully developed backward and forward linkages, industrialization has the ability to diversify economies and reduce exposure to external shocks.
Over the last decade, Africa has transformed into a prime business destination. Economic growth, strong foreign direct investment and the increasing ease of doing business have raised the attractiveness of the continent among other emerging economies.
Following a decade of economic expansion, Africa is now going digital. Only 16 percent of the continent's 1 billion people are online, but that share is increasing rapidly as more mobile networks are built and prices of Internet-capable devices continue to fall.
By 2030, nearly half of the world's economies - many of them in Africa, and the majority in sub-Saharan Africa - could be driven by their resource riches. It is vital for the economic prospects of these countries that they do better than many have done in translating this sub-soil wealth into long-term prosperity.
In Africa, it is Chinese businesspeople who sign multimillion-dollar deals, top politicians who sign major cooperation agreements, and people who embody China's most famous thinker who act as cultural ambassadors.
Xie Hong could hardly have imagined that the Confucius Institute in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, where she teaches Chinese, would be an important link for local overseas Chinese to trace their roots.
If one were to liken China-Africa relations to the traditional African stool, which has three legs that support the base on which people sit, then it would undoubtedly be economic, political and cultural ties that are the pillars.
China has a big surplus in commercial trade with the United States but a deficit in cultural exports. The Chinese know more about the US than Americans know about China.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang invoked an Ethiopian proverb to underline the importance of unity between countries. "When spiders' webs unite, they can tie up a lion," Li said, speaking at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa.
From building railways to constructing theaters, China has made major contributions to countries throughout Africa. A closer look at some:
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