(Quick News Africa)- The Peoples Republic of China has beaten the rest of the world in its trade volume with Africa, a new report by McKinsey has shown.
The report, which was released on June 28 by McKinsey Africa, finds that there are already over 10,000 Chinese firms operating on the African continent, a figure that is four times bigger than previously estimated.
It says about 90 percent of them are private firms of all sizes that operate in diverse sectors, with about a third of them in manufacturing.
“These firms are bringing capital investment, management know-how and entreprenuerial energy to the continent, and in so doing, are helping to accelerate the progress of Africa’s economies,” it read in part.
The report was generated through a study conducted across eight countries that account for about two-thirds of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP.
It also stressed that across trade, investment, infrastructure, financing and aid, China is a top five partner to Africa, and that no other country matches this level of engagement.
“The China-Africa relationship has ramped up over the past decade with trade growing at around 20 percent per annum. FDI has grown even faster—at an annual growth rate of 40 percent. China’s financial flows to Africa are 15 percent larger than official figures suggest when nontraditional flows are included.”
The report points to three main economic benefits to Africa from Chinese investment and business activity, which are job creation and skill development, transfer of knowledge and new technology, as well as financing and development of infrastructure.
In the area of job creation and skill development, the 1,000 firms surveyed, 89 percent of the employees are local, and that nearly two-thirds of Chinese firms provide skills training to their workers.
For the transfer of knowledge and new technology, Chinese firms are said to be modernizing African markets by introducing new products and technologies.
It has also been found out that some 48 percent of the firms surveyed introduced a new product or service, and 36 percent have introduced a new technology in the last three years.
