China will start building the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria to the tune of $32 million, marking a trend in which Beijing has influential fingerprints over regional blocs on the continent.
The Chinese have already started construction on the headquarters of the Ecowas secretariat, which China says is a friendship donation.
Beijing has already built the African Union (AU) headquarters and several institutional buildings in Africa, including the parliament building in Harare, Zimbabwe.
In January 2012, African heads of state and government met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to commission a new $200 million 12-story Secretariat donated by China to serve as the organization’s headquarters.
CDC headquarters
China is also building the headquarters of the African Center for Disease Control (CDC), which is expected to be completed early next year.
In addition to cash gifts and aid to Africa and its blocs, China has also built Zimbabwe’s $140 million parliament that was commissioned in July 2022.
In what it calls “strengthening friendship, solidarity and cooperation for a new era of common development” with Africa, China, in addition to loans, has provided various forms of financial assistance and made donations to cushion the effects of related crises. with health. .
According to the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country has delivered more than $3 billion of the promised $10 billion credit lines to African financial institutions, and nearly $2.5 billion in loans have been channeled to priority programs of Africa.
The ministry added that China’s import of African products in seven months reached 70.6 billion dollars.
In a post published on September 19, 2022, the ministry said that Chinese companies have invested US$2.17 billion in Africa and that “we are prepared, through the two IMF trusts, to redirect US$10 billion of its SDR to Africa and encourage the IMF to direct China’s contributions to Africa.”
Vaccines
He said China has provided 189 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to 27 African countries and the joint production of vaccines in Africa now has an annual capacity of around 400 million doses.
The communist country has also been involved in a number of solar, wind and other clean energy projects, including the Kafue Lower Gorge power station in Zambia.
“In countries like Botswana and Burkina Faso, we are conducting South-South cooperation to address climate change.
“In Seychelles, we are building a low-carbon demonstration zone. In Madagascar and Mozambique, we have supported their response to hurricanes and helped improve disaster preparedness and relief capabilities,” the Chinese ministry said.
China has also started helping Africa access international diplomatic facilities, including supporting the AU to join the G20 and supporting Uganda to host a successful high-level meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement.
China’s construction of the new Ecowas secretariat is just one of the projects aimed at helping Africa, having seen the West African bloc struggle with inadequate facilities at its headquarters buildings in the Maitama district of Abuja.
Opening ceremony
At least three West African leaders, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and his counterparts from Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone, as well as Ecowas Commission Chairman Omar Alieu Touray and Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Cui Jianchun held the opening ceremony of the building. from the Ecowas secretariat.
According to the host, President Buhari, the building, which should be completed in 26 months, will house the three main Ecowas institutions: the Ecowas Commission, the Community Court of Justice and the Parliament.
“We have been waiting for this day since July 10, 2019, when Ecowas and the PRC signed an implementation agreement for this diplomatic gift to West African states.
“The new complex [will] represent the unity and brotherhood of the Member States, as well as signify a renewed commitment to progress and regional integration. It will be our home and a regional rallying point,” President Buhari said.
the new Ecowas secretariat is being built by Shaanxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation.
“Sponsoring and building the new Ecowas headquarters is a vivid reflection of China’s support for Ecowas’ work as well as the traditional friendship between China and West African countries,” said Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Cui Jianchun.
