From September 4 to 6, 2024, the new Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit will be held in Beijing. Focusing on hot topics such as the development of China-Africa relations and the deepening of cooperation between the two sides, Kabudi started from the story of "a railway" to explain how China and Africa can jointly build a "road of friendship" that spans time and space.

Photo provided by interviewee Paramagamba John Kabudi, former Foreign Minister of Tanzania and professor at the University of Dar es Salaam

The Tanzania-Zambia Railway is the largest foreign aid package project since the founding of the People's Republic of China. It is an "out-and-out road of friendship" and "road of development" between China and Africa.

Speaking of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, which opened to traffic in 1976, Tanzanian former Foreign Minister Kabudi was very moved. He said that this railway is one of the "milestone" large-scale projects that China participated in the construction of. It provides new access to the sea for landlocked African countries and has always been remembered by the Tanzanian people.

"Tanzania is a coastal country with many ports and cooperates with many countries for cargo transportation at ports, including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Malawi," Kabudi said.

He pointed out that against this background, with the Tanzania-Zambia Railway put into operation, cargo transportation from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's main port, to Zambia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries will be faster and more efficient.

Kabudi emphasized that the modernization of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway and related achievements benefited from China's strong implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative.

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, 52 African countries, including Tanzania, and the African Union Commission have signed cooperation documents with China on the Belt and Road Initiative, and a number of major landmark engineering projects and "small but beautiful" livelihood projects have been implemented.

Kabudi further pointed out that China also supports the modernization of agriculture and the development of the textile industry in Tanzania. Major infrastructure projects such as the Nyerere Hydropower Station and the fifth and sixth sections of the Central Standard Gauge Railway are advancing steadily... In recent years, China has made important contributions to Tanzania's creation of jobs, improvement of people's livelihood, and connectivity.

2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Tanzania. Over the past 60 years, China-Tanzania relations have been at the forefront of China-Africa cooperation and have become a model for China-Africa relations and South-South cooperation. Kabudi pointed out that China-Tanzania relations are the epitome of the vigorous development of China-Africa relations.

"The in-depth cooperation between China and Tanzania is one of the epitome of the development of China-Africa cooperation." He said that China's investment stock in Africa has grown from less than 500 million US dollars in 2000 to more than 40 billion US dollars today. From 2000 to 2023, the bilateral trade volume between China and Africa has also achieved a leap, increasing nearly 26 times.

Over the years, China-Africa cooperation has built and upgraded nearly 100,000 kilometers of roads, more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly a thousand bridges, and nearly a hundred ports. Kabudi said that in addition to cooperation in investment and trade, China and Africa have "fully blossomed" in many fields such as tourism, culture, youth exchanges, and media interaction.

Kabudi also expressed high appreciation for China's joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative and the "BRICS " cooperation mechanism it advocates, saying that it will bring development opportunities to participating African countries and promote the acceleration of the integration process in Eastern Africa.

"Through these plans, China has not only achieved significant development itself, but also paved the way for world peace and development and jointly created a better future for mankind," Kabudi said.

(Wei Chenxi)