East Africa: China to Host Second Belt and Road Forum

(The East African, Nairobi, 6 March 2019) China will host its second Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum later this year, in its push to link the country by sea and land through an infrastructure network with Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The initiative launched by President Xi in 2013 seeks to strengthen Chinese global dominance through more than $1 trillion investment in infrastructure. In Africa, China invests majorly on transport and energy with Nigeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia among the largest partners in the BRI. In 2018, President Xi, during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), pledged $60 billion in financial support to Africa as part of the country's engagement with the continent in the next three years.

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