China promises another 1 billion doses of covid vaccine to Africa
The President of China, Xi Jinping, said this Monday (29) that the country will offer another 1 billion doses of vaccines against covid-19 to African countries and will encourage Chinese companies to invest around US$ 10 billion in Africa in next three years.
The promise of additional doses of the vaccine - on top of the nearly 200 million that China has already provided to the mainland - comes as concerns intensify over the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus, known as omicron, which has been identified for the first time in southern Africa.
In a speech delivered via video at the opening of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, Xi also said that a China-Africa cross-border center will be created to provide African financial institutions with a US$10 billion credit line, without providing further details .
Africa is one of the main Chinese imports of crude oil and minerals. They are expected to reach $300 billion over the next three years, Xi said, adding that the two sides will maintain cooperation in areas such as healthcare, digital innovation, trade promotion and green development.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
