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China-Africa relations: Wang Yi pledges Beijing will help Ethiopia recover and boost ties with Kenya and Nigeria
- China’s top diplomat makes a surprise stop in Addis Ababa and says Beijing is ‘willing to play a positive role in easing Ethiopia’s debt pressure’
- Wang is attending the Brics high representatives’ meeting on security affairs in South Africa early this week
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As the West steps up its diplomatic ventures into Africa, China has renewed its commitment to the continent, with debt relief and reconstruction pledges for Ethiopia and calls on new administrations in Kenya and Nigeria.
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The commitments came as part of senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi’s four-nation African tour, which will also include a visit to South Africa.
During an unannounced stop in Addis Ababa on Friday, Wang said China supported Ethiopia’s domestic reconstruction and economic recovery after the deadly Tigray war.
In a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Wang, a Politburo member and director of the Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, said China “is willing to play a positive role in easing Ethiopia’s debt pressure”, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.
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China-funded infrastructure across Africa force difficult decisions for its leaders
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In early 2021, Addis Ababa requested debt restructuring under the Group of 20’s Common Framework, an initiative for restructuring government debt aimed at low-income countries. But the main bilateral lenders are yet to decide on the Ethiopia case.
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