Chinese investments in Africa have ranged from building a hospital in Angola, and constructing a road between Zambia's capital Lusaka and its southeast city in Chirundu, to building a stadium in Sierra Leone. The list goes on.

CGC, the Chinese construction firm, is involved in many projects in Ethiopia, including a $40 million water-supply project for the historic eastern town of Harar, and an agreement to import 2,000 construction vehicles for the ministry of works and urban development.

More than 2,000 Chinese enterprises operate in more than 50 African countries and regions, mostly in resource-rich areas but covering virtually all business sectors.

China will likely help create some 85 million manufacturing jobs in the coming years, predicts Moustapha Ndiaye, a country manager for the World Bank in Uganda.

That projected number could have a tremendous impact on Africa where - according to the World Bank - 60 percent of all the unemployed is the youth. Africa has the youngest population in the world with about 200 million people between the ages of 15 and 24, a figure that is set to double by 2045, according to the 2012 African Economic Outlook report.

In 2012, China provided $20 billion in loans over three years for African infrastructure development, farming and businesses, and the African Talents Programme, which is to train 30,000 Africans in various sectors. The Export-Import Bank of China has reportedly financed more than 300, or the majority, of infrastructure financing arrangements by China in Africa.

Economic cooperation between China and Africa has contributed more than 20 percent to Africa's growth over the past 13 years. Africa's economy has grown by 5 percent annually in the new century with the help of China's aid and investment, according to China's Foreign Ministry.

China Daily

(China Daily USA 06/14/2013 page19)