In an upmarket Beijing cafe, Gong Jiayi sips her flat white coffee and enthusiastically runs through the highlights of her latest holiday to Japan.
It was 7:30 on a bright Wednesday morning at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
To say Chinese outbound tourism grows fast would be a huge understatement.
For Meshak Okoth, 12, this was a return to scholastic life like no other. When he returned in September to his studies with about 630 pupils at Mcedo-Beijing community school in Mathare, northeast of the Kenyan capital, the enthusiasm was palpable.
Many projects aimed at improving the living conditions of those living in slums across Africa have been carried out over the years, meeting with various degrees of success. Those generally regarded as having been successful include:
Mathare, the second-largest slum in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, is surrounded by putrid-smelling rubbish and human waste.
In the deepest point of Mathare Valley, where Nairobi's second-largest slum is located, a sparkling new building stands in stark contrast to the run-down shanties made of dark sheets of iron that surround it.
Construction of the Kariakor flats sprung out of the first celebrated program to upgrade slums in Nairobi after Kenya's independence.
In capitals across many African countries, more than half of the population resides in informal urban settlements.
Africa has a problem, and China has the solution, but many potential investors are shy about stepping in
One of the most beneficial results of the 54-year-old relationship between Ghana and China has been completion of the Bui Hydroelectric Power Project, which has provided a much-needed boost of 400 megawatts to the power-starved West African nation.
The business waters in Africa await testing by those who are courageous
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