PRESS RELEASE
China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund), the
Chinese state fund promoting investment co-operation between China and Africa,
is considering entering into partnerships with Agriculture development banks in
some African countries to expand investment, the fund's vice president Hu
Zhirong said.
China's co-operation with African development
banks dates back to 1985 when the government started supporting the Africa
Development Bank (AfDB). Since then China has been providing aid to the African
banks.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua on
Friday, Hu said the fund's core plan is to expand Chinese farming investments
in Africa.
Hu said CADFund is working together with its
major shareholder China Development Bank (CDB) in this investment plan.
The plan would also consider partnering with
local agriculture companies and other financial institutions supporting
agriculture development, he said.
"We do have plans to work with
agriculture development banks in some African countries so that we expand our
agriculture investment in Africa.
"Our shareholder is China Development
Bank so both the CDB and China-Africa Development Fund are willing to develop
agriculture projects in African countries," Hu said.
CADFund reportedly is the first equity
investment fund in China focusing on investment in Africa. It was established
in June 2007 with committed funding of 5 billion U.S. dollars. CADFund is a key
component of the Chinese government's forging of the Sino-African New Strategic
Partnership.
"We also need local partners including
the financial institutions and other agriculture local companies.
"In this way we can work together to
develop agriculture in Africa," the deputy CEO said.
Fund report showed that by the end of 2008,
CADFund had invested nearly 400 million U.S. dollars in over 20 projects, which
in turn would facilitate investment by Chinese enterprises to the value of
about 2 billion U.S. dollars in Africa.
Hu, not indicating which banks the fund is
targeting, said CADFund is currently funding different agriculture projects in
Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and that plans are at an advanced stage to
extend the funding to Sudan.
He said the CADFund wants to team up with
Chinese companies.
"I am encouraging Chinese companies to
invest in this so we can invest with Chinese companies," he said, adding
that the CADFund is also investing in expanding its presence in Africa and
currently is investigating the investments environment and the incentives of
some local governments in north Africa.
"We are planning to have two new
representative offices in the north region," Hu said.
The senior official said the Fund is hoping
to open these offices by the end of this year or early next year. CADFund has
establishment representative offices in Zambia, Ethiopia, Ghana and South
Africa.
Xinhua
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