Foreign news

China To Implement Objectives Of Cooperation Programs With Africa

Published

3 years ago

March 7, 2022

Later in 2022, China will begin implementing the deliverables of the nine programs of cooperation with Africa set out by President Xi Jinping at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in November.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaffirmed China’s position during a media briefing on China’s foreign policy and diplomatic relations on Monday.

The nine programs of Africa-China cooperation for the next three years are geared towards adding new impetus to the growth of China-Africa relations. According to Wang Yi, China will begin by working on three priorities with African countries.

First, China will “vigorously advance” its anti-COVID-19 cooperation with Africa by fully providing one billion doses of vaccines to Africa and help the continent enhance its capacity for localized vaccine production.

Africa, which has the lowest vaccination rate globally, aims to vaccinate 60 percent of its population by the end of this year.

Of the one billion doses, 600 million doses are to be donated and 400 million doses will be provided through various avenues, such as joint production by Chinese companies and relevant African countries.

China is also expected to undertake 10 medical and health projects for African countries, in addition to sending 1,500 medical personnel and public health experts to Africa.

Wang Yi also said China will upgrade practical China-Africa cooperation by accelerating Belt and Road cooperation and work for early harvests under the nine programs spelled out by President Xi Jinping.

“We will synergize the Global Development Initiative (GDI) with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and take concrete actions to support economic recovery and sustainable development of Africa.”

China will also act on the outlook for peace and development in the Horn of Africa. As part of its peace and security program, China vowed to support African countries’ efforts to independently maintain regional security and fight terrorism and deliver military assistance to the African Union (AU).

Having appointed a special envoy to the region, Wang Yi said China was prepared to engage in “extensive communications” with regional countries and play a “constructive role” in helping secure peace in the region and continent in general.

Wang Yi also robustly refuted accusations of China leading Africa into a so-called “debt trap” by laying out the development record in the China-Africa cooperation.

Wang Yi said China has built 10,000km of railways, up to 100,000km of highways, close to 100 ports and several schools and hospitals across the continent.

These, he added, are “monuments of cooperation” and not debt-traps.

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

1 month ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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