Chinese industrial power fuels Africa's growth

BEIJING - The firm behind China's Three Gorges Dam has set its sights on sub-Saharan Africa.

When the China Gezhouba Group Corp. (CGGC) finished the massive hydro project on the Yangtze River in 1991, Chinese industrial firms were booming and the country was experiencing double-digit growth.

Today, Chinese companies like CGGC are downshifting following a domestic glut and turning their attention overseas, especially to underdeveloped regions in Africa.

The CGGC bought a 155-million-dollar heavy fuel oil power plant in Liberia in 2014 and is considering cement industry joint ventures in Nigeria and Angola to meet local infrastructure needs.

Another Chinese construction giant, the China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd. (CRCC), has railway projects in Ethiopia and Kenya. It is also discussing building affordable housing and power plants in other African countries including Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Mali.

These projects are in line with national support for a drive the government terms "industrial production capacity cooperation." This cooperation is expected to be high on the agenda for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit due to be held in South Africa from Dec 4-5.

Industrial production capacity cooperation refers to moving production lines and setting up factories overseas, building infrastructure and investing in industrial projects with local partners, and employing local people.

Africa is a natural partner for cooperation, Chinese and African economists and officials say.

China is Africa's largest trading partner. Africa's economy expanded by more than 5 percent annually over the past decade, but most of the continent lags behind in industrial production and infrastructure. China's extra industrial capacity, with its low costs and high quality, can fill the gap.

There are more than 3,000 Chinese businesses operating in Africa now in sectors including finance, telecommunications, energy, manufacturing and agriculture. Chinese companies have created more than 100,000 jobs on the continent.

Compared with developed economies such as the United States, Japan and Europe, China brings to Africa not the most advanced or expensive products and technology, but offers advantages in cost and utility, said Zhang Yansheng, an economist with China's National Development and Research Commission.