Prime Minister Samuel Matekane says the Republic of China has granted Lesotho government M250 million for improvement of the country’s economy and for upgrading their agricultural machinery.
Speaking at the press briefing on Tuesday following his attendance of the summit of the Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), he said M250 million has been donated to Lesotho as a food donation and to implement their projects which are already in the pipeline.
He highlighted with the funds they have received for improving agriculture they are going to capacitate the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition so as to assist crop farmers to better production of food.
He added that they are aware that most of the arable land is currently being used to build houses and he indicated that they are in a process of forming the Laws that prevent that.
Furthermore, he highlighted that there is progress in the production of food stating the 16,000 bags harvested this year as a milestone.
Mr Matekane also revealed that China has set aside M522 billion for debt relief for the continent of Africa, M200 billion for other developmental projects activities and M174 billion for trade investment.
He explained that China has pledged to invest in programs such as improvement in infrastructure, health, agriculture, peace building, electricity generation to mention a few, adding that Africa and China have entered into a strategic partnership.
The eighth Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC was held in Senegal in November 2021, where China pledged to jointly roll out nine programs with African countries, and upgrade China-Africa cooperation in various fields including medical and health care, improvement of people’s livelihood, green development, digital economy and capacity building.
The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Beijing from September 4 to 6 2024.
The leaders of China and African countries gathered in discussion around the theme “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future” to celebrate friendship and chart the way forward for cooperation.
FOCAC is the largest diplomatic event hosted by China in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders.
Source: Lesotho News Agency (LENA) 18/9/2024
