African countries should replicate China’s successful poverty alleviation milestone to realize the continent’s priority sustainable development aspirations, an Ethiopian expert has said.
“It is a very good experience of China that Africans should get lessons on how they lifted about 800 million people out of poverty. Africans should get a lesson,” Melaku Mulualem, senior international relations and diplomacy researcher at Ethiopia’s Institute of Strategic Affairs, said in an interview with Xinhua.
The expert, in particular, urged Africa and the rest of least developed countries to replicate how China taps into its vast human capital towards national development.
“Especially for least developed countries, high population can be a curse; but for China, it is an opportunity because they are using the brain and hands of the people to be innovative and to produce new things. That’s why China became the second largest economy in the world, and there is no poverty even in rural areas of China,” Mulualem said.
He acknowledged China’s achievements in realizing the global Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations ahead of time, which he said should serve as a lesson for African countries in their drive to realize the ambitious global Sustainable Development Goals.
“Africa should get (lessons) on how China reduces the number of poor people. This can probably be through technology transfer to Africa, through education,” the expert said.
Mulualem emphasized the need for African countries to effectively exploit China’s technology transfer and capacity building supports to Africa as a springboard to replicate successes in poverty alleviation.
“Of course, China has planned to send many agricultural experts in the coming three years, and also medical experts. All these will support to alleviate poverty in Africa,” he said.
The expert, in particular, emphasized the need to replicate China’s sustainable eco-friendly development endeavors, which he described as mainstay to Africa’s climate-friendly development aspirations.
“Sustainable development simply means development without compromising the environment. So, the experience of China is helpful for Africa, because when China comes to the second position in (global) economy, it is not by compromising the environment. So, the experience of China is helpful for Africa to alleviate poverty and drought,” Mulualem said.
According to the expert, China’s shared future for mankind initiative has the potential to significantly reduce poverty in Africa and elsewhere across the developing world.
“Shared future means to think about the people of the world at large… Africa can also benefit from this shared future vision,” he said.
“Africa can learn from China a lot of things in different sectors: how they managed peace in their country is one lesson; how they provide health and education for the people of China – for the big population in the world; and also how they are providing electricity, water and all that will be helpful to know the experience of China,” Mulualem said.
“There are a lot of sectors that Africans should attend or draw lessons from China,” Mulualem added. Enditem
