China is to pump a further $2bn into its African investment fund earlier than planned to snap up opportunities left by the hasty retreat of western investors from the continent.
Since its launch in late 2006, the China-African Development Fund has invested $400m (€309m, ￡286m) and expects to have spent most of its initial capital of $1bn by the end of the year, as much as two years ahead of schedule, said Chi Jianxin, the fund's chief executive.
Observers of China's flourishing relationship with Africa have noted that Beijing has been known to deliver less than its prodigious promises. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that recent Chinese arrivals on the continent, particularly miners, have been heading home in their droves as commodity prices plunge.