10
Nov
China-Africa Development Fund Donates to Three West African Countries to Fight Ebola
Comments Off on China-Africa Development Fund Donates to Three West African Countries to Fight Ebola
The China-Africa Development Fund, which is under the China Development Bank (CDB), held a ceremony of donation in Beijing on November 4th, donating US$450,000 special fund to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, helping the three countries to fight Ebola.
In recent months, the spread of Ebola in West Africa poses a serious threat to the lives of the African people, and to economic and social development and public health of related countries, with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone most seriously affected. The prevention and control of Ebola has become a common challenge to public health in the world. CDB Chairman Hu Huaibang said at the ceremony, “the Chinese government and Chinese people are highly concerned about the epidemic in Africa, and so does each staff member of the CDB. In order to show firm support to African governments to fight Ebola, the CDB has decided to designate the China-Africa Development Fund to donate US$150,000 respectively to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, hoping to play its part in helping the African people to fight the epidemic. We also hope that more institutions and businesses can join us in supporting the African people and boost their confidence to defeat the epidemic.”
Ambassador Thomas of Liberia to China delivered a speech on behalf of the diplomatic corps of the three West African countries, expressing gratitude over the donation, saying that the gesture shows the sincere friendship of the Chinese people toward the African people. He said, “thank you so much for your generous donation. The kind gesture of the CDB and China-Africa Development Fund proves that the people of West Africa are not fighting Ebola alone. It demonstrates humanitarian care and sincere friendship the Chinese people have towards Liberian and other African brothers troubled by Ebola. It will help the African people to achieve success in fighting Ebola.”
In his address, Wang Shiting, deputy director general of the African Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recognized the move of the Chinese businesses such as CDB to fulfill their social responsibility to African countries. He said, “such a move fully demonstrates the friendship in need between China and West African people. I believe the donation will play a positive role in the efforts of the three countries to fight Ebola. We support more Chinese businesses in offering help within their capacity to the governments and people of Ebola-affected countries so as to help them defeat the epidemic at an early date and rebuild their homeland.”
Kicked off in June 2007, the China-Africa Development Fund was established by the CDB as an investment fund to support Chinese businesses in developing cooperation with Africa. The Fund is one of the eight initiatives committed by China at Beijing Summit of FOCAC in 2006. Over the years, the Fund has been promoting the development of China-Africa relations through financial cooperation and helping African countries to develop their economies and improve livelihood, becoming an important financing platform for China’s cooperation with Africa. Up till now, the Fund has provided a total of US$27.7 billion loans to Africa, and 2.3 billion dollars of investment.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201411061185.html