Harare (AFP)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pledged on Sunday to strengthen cooperation with Zimbabwe despite a recent feud between the two countries over the figures for bilateral aid that Beijing is giving it to keep its economy in crisis afloat.
In November, the Zimbabwean government said it had received only $ 3.6 million in bilateral aid from Beijing between January and September 2019, far behind the United States and the United Kingdom. Visibly crumpled, Beijing had criticized Harare for underestimating its aid, advancing a figure almost 40 times higher ($ 136.8 million).
Mr. Yi met with his counterpart Sibusiso Moyo on Sunday, during the last leg of his tour of Africa, which also took him to Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea and Burundi.
He did not mention financial aid, but praised "win-win" cooperation between China and Zimbabwe in infrastructure, agriculture and mining, and promised to explore new avenues. of cooperation.
"China has helped Africa build more than 130 medical facilities, 45 stadiums, and more than 170 schools in the past five years," Yi told reporters in Harare.
Opposition parties in Zimbabwe accuse the government of ceding minerals and other natural resources to China in exchange for financial aid. They also accuse Chinese companies of abusing and under-paying local workers.
The southern African country has been mired for twenty years in a catastrophic economic and financial crisis.
The situation of its 15 million inhabitants has worsened recently with the return of hyperinflation, power cuts, shortages of products such as flour, fuel and medicines, and drought.
© 2020 AFP