By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Sierra Leone and China have committed to deepen bilateral ties in the interest of the peoples of the two countries.
The commitment was made during a visit by a senior Chinese government official last week. Yang Jiechi spent two days (Thursday September 5 to Friday September 6) in Freetown as Special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping. His tour is said to be part of a three-nation Africa tour that included Kenya and Nigeria to exchange views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common interest, according to a statement from the Press Secretary at the presidency in Freetown.
Mr Yang held meetings with key government officials, including Foreign Minister Nabeela Tunis and President Julius Maada Bio. The Chinese official was quoted saying at a closed-door meeting with the Sierra Leonean leader that China cherished its ties with Sierra Leone and that the Asian giant was ready to work with the Bio administration to further deepen their relationship, maintain close relations and push for greater progress for the benefit of the two counties.
Yang Jiechi is a high-ranking Chinese politician and diplomat who was the Director of the Office of Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
President Bio thanked the delegation for the visit, noting that it was a special visit with the potential to heighten the relationship between China and the people of Sierra Leone.
The visit of Mr Yang is also a follow up meeting from President Bio’s state visit to China last year. During that visit, which coincided with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), both countries discussed several issues bordering on trade, investment, infrastructure and agriculture.
The Chinese government back then committed to invest up to $60 billion in Africa over the coming years. Some $20 billion of that fund was to be in credit, $15 billion in grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, and $10 billion in investment financing.
The FOCAC summit is based on promoting eight key strategic areas in collaboration with Africa. The areas of focus are industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, green development, capacity building, healthcare, people-to-people exchange, and peace and security. This is President Jinping’s mantra of Afro-China cooperation.
China already has major investment interests in Sierra Leone, notably in the mining sector.
© 2019 Politico Online
