By Xin Zhiming (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-06 15:38

Africa welcomes Chinese investment in such sectors as infrastructure, and needs to learn from China's successful economic reforms to accelerate local development, said a senior World Bank official.

"Africa is in need of massive inflow of investment," Obiageli "Oby" Ezekwesili, the World Bank's vice-president of the African region, told China Daily.

The continent needs investments of some $22 billion annually to improve its infrastructure networks alone if it is to have global competitiveness. In addition, some $17 billion is required to maintain existing infrastructure, she said.

Lack of adequate infrastructure has cost the continent dearly. "On average, it costs businesses operating in Africa about 5-6 percent of their revenues for not having access to reliable power supply," Ezekwesili said.

Only 24 percent of Africans have access to power and 44 percent have access to clean water, she said, which shows how much the continent is in need of investments in sectors ranging from agriculture, telecommunications, transportation to logistics and energy.

But Ezekwesili said Africans should have the ability to steer their development dream and foreign investors must make their economic activities more open and transparent.

China has intensified its support to Africa's economic development in recent years. In 2006, it renewed its commitment to give more financial and technical assistance to the continent, helping it train professionals, reduce tariffs on products imported from Africa and cancel debts.

Bilateral trade is also growing fast. In 2006, Sino-African trade volume hit $55.5 billion, up 40 percent year-on-year.

Africa will not only benefit from China's investment, but also from its rich experience in leading its people out of poverty by establishing a sound market mechanism.

"The fundamental lesson of China's transformation for Africa is embracing of reforms and integration into the market as a response to internal problems by finding solutions that enable citizens to take advantage of facilities that globalization offers," Ezekwesili said. "That's the lesson for a lot of countries in the (African) continent."

African economies need to establish a similar market-based system in developing their economy, she said. "The fundamental principle of human life is that people respond to incentives, and it does not matter from which part of the world they come from."