China Kenya cooperation helps Kenya accelerate its development pace (China Africa cooperation in the new era)

The "Revitalizing Agriculture and Benefiting the People Partnership Action" proposed in the Ten Major Partnership Actions for China and Africa to jointly promote modernization aims to create 100 agricultural poverty reduction demonstration villages, dispatch 500 agricultural experts to African countries, and cultivate 1000 agricultural wealth leaders. Recently, our reporter visited Matanjitisa Village to experience the effectiveness of China Africa agricultural cooperation and poverty reduction.

Chinese agricultural technology has helped us solve major problems

As a demonstration household, Gito has tasted the sweetness of adopting new technologies and varieties. Since 2023, Jito has tried to plant two new varieties of grain beans cultivated by the Sino Kenya "the Belt and Road" Joint Laboratory of Crop Molecular Biology. Bean is our main crop for increasing income. Whether it's the dry or rainy season, the new variety is growing well, and Chinese agricultural technology has helped us solve the big problem, "said Gito.

The warehouse of the Gito family has now been transformed into a small screening room, with two plaques hanging at the entrance: "Demonstration Village for Agricultural Development and Poverty Reduction in Central Africa" and "Demonstration Household for Agricultural Development and Poverty Reduction in Central Africa". Many local farmers come here to watch instructional videos explaining agricultural technology. Gito said, "Seeing that the bean seeds grown in my family are plump and resistant to diseases, everyone is very interested in the new technology. More and more farmers are buying seeds from us to try new varieties

Joshua Ogwino, an associate professor of horticulture at Egton University in Kenya, said, "Local tomato cultivation has long been plagued by bacterial wilt disease, and it often takes three years to plant on new land. The demonstration village has introduced grafting technology taught by Chinese experts, and this problem is expected to be solved

Liu Yutao, a Chinese member of the demonstration village construction project and associate professor at Nanjing Agricultural University, told reporters that the demonstration village will strive to build a multi-party cooperation mechanism of "universities+governments+international organizations+agricultural enterprises", forming an effective interaction between the upstream Chinese practical "small and beautiful" technology introduction, digestion, demonstration and promotion and the downstream agricultural product value-added and circulation, helping Kenyan farmers achieve capacity improvement and income increase, and contributing to local poverty reduction.

Currently, Kenya has a strong desire to leverage Chinese technology to promote agricultural development and accelerate poverty reduction. Kenya's Chief Cabinet Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs, Mudawadi, stated in an interview with our reporter that China continues to provide assistance to Africa's poverty reduction efforts, helping African people achieve their aspirations of increasing income and improving their livelihoods.

"Being able to use the Internet to start my own business makes me look forward to the future"

In recent years, African countries have generally hoped to learn from China's development experience in the field of digital economy. Kilimall E-commerce Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kilimall") is an e-commerce enterprise founded by a Chinese entrepreneurial team in Kenya in 2014. Li Ke, the head of the company in Kenya, introduced that Qili has created nearly 10000 job opportunities for the local area, especially providing entrepreneurial opportunities for a large number of young people in Kenya.

Entering the warehouse of the company located near Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, employees are busy and busy in their respective work areas, processing orders, counting goods, and packing and boxing in an orderly manner (see Figure 2, photographed by our reporter Gong Ming). In remote areas of Kenya, it is difficult for people to find supermarkets. Zili provides them with a platform to purchase high-quality goods at affordable prices, "said Dixon Enganga Mwangji, Zili's marketing manager. Due to the establishment of a mature product quality control and after-sales service system, Kenyan consumers' trust in the company continues to rise.

Logistics is one of the main challenges in developing e-commerce in African countries. Through years of hard work, Qili has established a logistics system covering the whole country, "said Yangni Wangila Mana, the company's logistics manager, to reporters. Qili has attracted shops from all over Kenya, especially in remote areas, to join the logistics system, forming more than 1500 self pickup points for goods and solving the" last mile "delivery problem.

Desmond Ode Haibo has been running an online store on the Zili platform for 5 years. "When I was in college, I opened an online shop in Qili. After graduation, it was Qili that brought me opportunities. At present, my business has expanded from the initial sales of perfume to skin care products, electronic products and other commodities, and also hired new employees. Being able to use the Internet to start my own business has made me look forward to the future," he said.

Linking China and Africa through digital technology is a major vision of Qi Li. At present, Qili has assisted over a thousand Chinese companies in entering the African market and established the first professional public overseas warehouse in Africa. Overseas goods can be delivered to consumers on the same day at the earliest.

The ten major partnership actions of China and Africa to jointly promote modernization include the "Trade Prosperity Partnership Action" and the "Industry Chain Cooperation Partnership Action", and we are actively participating in them with practical actions. We are striving to apply the successful experience accumulated in the Kenyan market to more African countries. Li Ke said, "Our company has a goal: to empower one million entrepreneurs and serve approximately one billion African consumers by 2044

Cooperation with China helps Kenya achieve its energy transition goals

Green development is an important area for deepening cooperation between China and African countries. Chinese companies actively participate in the construction of clean energy projects in Kenya, helping the local area promote green and low-carbon transformation.

Kenya has abundant geothermal resources. Starting from Nairobi and driving about 90 kilometers northwest, the reporter arrived at the first phase of the Okaria geothermal power project in Kenya. In August 2023, China Power Construction Group Shandong Electric Power Construction Third Engineering Co., Ltd. officially upgraded the power station renovation.

Wear protective clothing and follow the staff through the huge geothermal steam pipeline factory to enter the location of the first phase generator set. Three condensers built in the 1980s are arranged in sequence. They were once important components of the generator set but have long stopped working due to long-term disrepair. Ma Zengyu, Deputy Manager of the Kenya Geothermal Power Station Project Department of Shandong Electric Power Construction Third Company, told reporters that after the renovation and upgrading are completed, the power generation capacity of the power station will be greatly improved.

Kenya plans to achieve 100% clean energy power generation by 2030, with geothermal power installed capacity expected to account for 60% of the country's electricity generation. Chinese companies are highly competitive in terms of technical details and cost control, and the project is progressing smoothly, "said Kreti Bor, steam field manager of Kenya Power Generation Company, to reporters.

Bor said that in addition to geothermal power generation, Kenya and China have a good foundation for cooperation in photovoltaic power generation, hydropower, wind power and other fields. "China is developing rapidly in clean energy, and cooperation with China will help Kenya achieve its energy transformation goals.

The reporter noticed that there are occasional occurrences of long tailed black jawed monkeys and white faced baboons in the construction area of the project. Xiao Cuifang, the project manager of the comprehensive department of Shandong Electric Power Construction Third Company, introduced that the construction site is located in Kenya National Park, with abundant wildlife and plant resources. "The project department strictly abides by Kenya's environmental protection regulations, minimizes the impact on the local ecological environment, and ensures green construction throughout the entire process.

Dennis Munene, Executive Director of the Central Africa Center at the Kenya Africa Policy Research Institute, stated in an interview with our reporter that in recent years, China has actively assisted Kenya in accelerating its development in areas such as poverty reduction, green, digital, agriculture, industrialization, and talent cultivation. More and more Chinese companies are investing and developing in Kenya, bringing benefits to the local people.