Chinese and UK business networks have agreed to build a strategic partnership for the twenty-first century to promote commercial collaboration and knowledge-sharing, with the objective of building high-quality, sustainable infrastructure, including projects on the African continent.
The initiative is supported by both the UK and Chinese governments, each of which have substantial and growing ties to Africa.
Last month, the UK government hosted a UK-Africa Investment Summit in London which supported over R120-billion in commercial deals.
In line with this, in October 2019, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa and the South Africa-China Economic and Trade Association, to strengthen cooperation on projects that support high-quality, sustainable infrastructure that meets Southern Africa’s priorities and supports the region’s growth.
On the back of this MoU, Turner & Townsend and CRI Eagle – who are acting as lead firms on each side within the alliance – are supporting UK and Chinese businesses in developing competitive project solutions in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The two companies recently brought industry partners together to discuss the infrastructure needs in the SADC region, how the UK-China Infrastructure Alliance can support companies in becoming involved in financing and delivering infrastructure projects, and also the fact that public–private partnerships should be considered for infrastructure projects in the pipeline.