AFRICA
One Bric at a Time
China and India have been doling out money to win allies in Africa ahead of this week’s summit of the emerging economies dubbed the “BRICS” group.
On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $14.7 billion to South Africa, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Uganda would receive $200 million, CNBC reported, noting that China has a much larger presence on the continent.
The Chinese cash will help South African President Cyril Ramaphosa make progress toward his goal of raising $100 billion in foreign investment to reboot the country’s lagging economy – with $2.8 billion going to South Africa’s primary state utility Eskom. India’s investment is slated to help Uganda develop its dominant agricultural sector and electricity distribution infrastructure, the news channel said. Xi and Modi also visited Rwanda to offer similar, though smaller, loan packages this week.
The grouping of five major emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has added significance this year amid the US assault on multilateral trade mechanisms and China’s trade practices, in particular, said India’s FirstPost.com.
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