China helps create millions of jobs in Africa

Reducing poverty is a key priority for African nations in their partnership with China. The fastest way to achieve that is to get people into work. And experts say the potential is there to create millions of jobs.[Special coverage]

For all its rapid growth, Africa is still struggling to create jobs. Even in the biggest economies, such as Nigeria and South Africa, unemployment remains a persistent blight. For many, the result is a life of deprivation. New investment is one avenue to job creation. Ethiopia, a big recipient of Chinese investment, estimates that's helped create more than 300,000 jobs in the past decade.

It's a good start, but there could be a whole lot more. Economists though say countries need to restructure their economies, toward more labour intensive programs.

"Beyond growth we need to transform.We need to have transformation to see wealth creation happening in Africa.And with wealth creation we will be able then to reduce the stock of the poor. To achieve this transformation we need to focus more on industrialisation of African countries." Economic analyst Adama Ekberg said.

It's something China has put into practice with manufacturing in Addis Ababa - from shoes to cellphones. Large-scale farming also could be a recipe for more jobs. And in that, there's a useful exchange of knowhow between China and Africa.

"The partnership between China and Africa is very effective already. For instance recently we had an exchange between agriculture scientists and farmers from Africa and China and we hope that in the future we can continue this kind of exchanges focusing on technologies that can work to accelerate the development the agriculture and fishery sector on the continent." Dr. Sloans Chimatiro with New Partnership For Africa's Dev't said.

China's been investing in Africa for more than 50 years now. A partnership that is continually evolving. The focus now is shifting toward manufacturing and beneficiation. Analysts say that could mean many more jobs are created - and many more Africans lifted out of poverty.