Africa China 4min.mov

Key speakers at the opening session of the Africa-China Poverty Reduction and Development Conference on Monday 1 November 2010, at the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, agreed that there was no magic bullet to reducing poverty. While there was broad consensus that Africa can and should be learning from China's impressive growth experience, witnessed in three short decades, as well as those lessons from Brazil and Vietnam, speakers cautioned for the need to tailor those experiences to Africa's need.
"The biggest killer disease in Africa is neither malaria nor HIV/Aids. Poverty is the biggest killer disease in our continent", Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said at the opening of the two-day Africa-China Poverty Reduction and Development Conference . He added, "It would thus be natural for us Africans to seek to learn from those who have succeeded in fighting poverty in order to bolster our war on Africa. No one has done that better than the Chinese; which is why it would be absolutely natural for us to try to learn how the Chinese did it."
The focus of the two-day Africa-China conference would be to see "what is working out there" UNDP Administrator Helen Clark stressed highlighting the need for dialogue and exchange of ideas that did not seek a one road to success route.
Noting with enthusiasm that "Development breakthrough for Africa is within reach", the UNDP Administrator also emphasised the need for sustained and inclusive growth. She said that in its work throughout the world, UNDP was finding strong evidence pointing to social protection as an investment in human development and laying the foundation for rapid growth.
Backing up the Administrator's statement of good news coming out of Africa, Trevor Manuel Minister in the Presidency of South Africa celebrated that, "Africa has grown impressively in recent years. According to the African Economic Outlook (2010) the average real GDP growth rate between 2000 and 2008 was 5.3%. FDI inflows grew from USD 20 billion in 2003 to USD 87 billion in 2008. Much of what accounts for the economic growth, FDI inflows and trade is the improvement in infrastructure." He voiced concern though that, "Despite these positives, growth cannot be taken as a given. Furthermore, the conditions for translating economic development to social development are still fragile. These conditions largely deal with employment, human capital development and infrastructure."

Heading the Chinese delegation was Zheng Wenkai, Vice Minister, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. He outlined the challenges still facing China where development gaps remained huge with cases of relapse into poverty in some areas calling for the need to work on enhancing the population's resistance to risks.

Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank stressed that there was no assumption here that those experiences were transferable but rather they point to a direction. He also voiced the concern of the critics of the Africa-China relationship who accused that Africa was growing but only because of the increasing need for commodities. Further, the relationship put Africa in the junior partner position simply supplying raw materials. He said that it was up to Africans to define the nature of the relationships with the BRICKs (Brazil, Russia, India China and Korea). One lesson that Africa can take away was that China, Brazil, India were all each one country, and Africa was dealing with 53 countries thus the need for economic integration. Stressing the need for Africa to look within for solutions, Mr. Kaberuka reflected that while there was debate in some corners on where Africa falls between the 'Washington' and 'Beijing' consensus, he said the answer to that was that "We have a consensus in Africa and it is called NEPAD" referring to the New Partnership for Africa's Development, a strategic framework developed by African leaders and adopted in 2001.

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• Ethiopia

[youme1414]

Africa greatest problem is corrupt leadership and unorganized way of life!

[Barrackobama1000]

China was experience the same poverty in 1920s..that is why China need to help those in need badly.