Roads, bridges, railways show BRI cooperation fruits of Xi's 2018 journey to the continent

In May, construction of the Nyabarongo II Hydropower Plant on the upper reaches of the Nyabarongo River in Rwanda began.

When the 43.5 megawatt power plant is completed in early 2027, it will provide clean energy to the national grid and help the country achieve universal access to power, create jobs, improve flood control, reduce soil erosion and give a vital boost to the tourism industry.

The plant is one of the biggest projects supported by China in Rwanda and the latest example of collaboration stemming from Belt and Road Initiative agreements they signed in 2018.

President Xi Jinping was visiting Rwanda on July 23, 2018, and witnessed the signing of the agreements with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali, the nation's capital.

In an earlier meeting between the two, Xi said China welcomed Rwanda being part of the BRI. China encourages its companies to invest in Rwanda and contribute to its industrialization and modernization, he said.

China and Africa have worked closely together over the decades, and Beijing is willing to see a stronger Africa that is looking to integrate, Xi said.

Kagame said China is a reliable friend of Africa, the BRI is an important opportunity for Rwanda and Africa as a whole and Rwanda is willing to play a role in the BRI.

He applauded China's help to Rwanda in areas such as infrastructure development, agriculture and education, saying that it contributed to the modernization of Rwanda and improved the lives of its people.

During that July 2018 meeting, Xi also talked about their meeting in Beijing the previous year and said the two leaders had very good, in-depth talks.

Kagame invited Xi to visit Rwanda during the meeting, which led to the 2018 visit.

Gerald Mbanda, a researcher in Rwanda on China and Africa, said that since Xi's visit and the BRI agreements signed by the two nations, there have been great achievements in bilateral collaboration.

A 54-kilometer road has been completed, and another road leading to the southern province of Huye is soon expected to be completed, he said. In addition, collaboration in fields such as e-commerce, education, healthcare and agriculture has flourished over the past four years.

James Kimonyo, Rwanda's ambassador to China, said Xi's 2018 visit to Rwanda had been a great success that had taken bilateral relations to a new high.

The BRI, which Xi proposed in 2013, is a great initiative that can be carried out to meet development priorities in different countries, he said.

The initiative helps countries become connected and conduct trade, and because of the infrastructure built, it promotes investment that brings together countries that would otherwise not be connected to a larger market, he said.

"When President Xi talks about win-win cooperation and building a shared future for humankind, he means it," Kimonyo said. "It is not political rhetoric. He means it, and he puts the plan into action.

"Some people say China is creating a debt trap for Africa. That is just ridiculous, because China comes to bridge the infrastructure gap. It supports power generation, roads, hospitals, infrastructure, schools, and so on. These are very important projects for our country and for our people."

Many landmark projects have been financed and built by China on the African continent in recent decades, including the railway that connects Tanzania and Zambia, he said, adding that BRI collaboration between China and Africa is a continuation of the partnership that China has had with Africa, and Rwanda in particular.

During his July 2018 trip, Xi also traveled to four other countries in the Middle East and Africa－the United Arab Emirates, Senegal, South Africa and Mauritius. He witnessed the signing of BRI collaboration documents with the UAE, Senegal and Rwanda.

Meeting Senegal's President Macky Sall on July 21 that year, Xi applauded the fact that Senegal was the first country in West Africa to sign BRI agreements and said he hoped that they would use the opportunity to elevate bilateral collaboration.

China attaches great importance to China-Africa relations and will promote closer ties between the two countries, Xi said.

During his visit to the country, he also attended the handover ceremony of a Chinese-built wrestling stadium in Dakar, the capital. The stadium, which seats 20,000 spectators, was the first modern stadium specifically for wrestling in Africa, and was the biggest Chinese aid project in Senegal.

During the handover ceremony, attended by more than 1,000 people wearing festive costumes, Xi and Sall watched traditional Senegalese wrestling. As Xi presented a key to Sall symbolizing the handover of the project, the packed stadium burst into thunderous applause.

The wrestling stadium illustrates the deep friendship between the Chinese and Senegalese peoples, Xi said, adding that China is willing to work with Senegal to protect and pass on traditional culture and promote cultural exchanges and collaboration between the two countries.

Over the past four years, several infrastructure projects that benefit Senegal's economy and people have been implemented within the BRI framework.

A toll bridge, which connects the cities of Fatick and Foundiougne, opened in March. The 1,600-meter bridge, built by China Railway Seventh Group, is the longest in the country. It has significantly cut the travel time for people living along the Saloum River, and it promotes regional integration.

Throughout Africa, the number of ties between China and the continent has multiplied in recent years, driven by the BRI.Since December 2015, when South Africa became the first country on the continent to sign BRI cooperation documents with China, almost all African countries have joined the initiative.

BRI collaboration has borne much fruit, with a number of landmark projects completed, including the 752-km, transnational Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, the 480-km Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya and the 536-km No 1 National Highway in the Republic of the Congo.

Dennis Munene, executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute in Kenya, said the BRI reflects China's vision of building a community of a shared future for humankind and is "humanity's most ambitious infrastructure project".

The initiative is "a vehicle for achieving infrastructure, policy, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity to create new drivers of shared development", and it has won recognition throughout the world, including Africa, he said.

The BRI has aligned the continent's vision with its other projects, including the African Union Agenda 2063. In Kenya, China has supported modern infrastructure projects such as railways, expansion of roads, construction of ports, dams, industries, digital connectivity and airports through the BRI, injecting vitality into its economic and development growth, Munene said.