Botswana receives aid of $3 mln from China

GABORONE, Dec. 2 -- Botswana has received yet another grant of 20 million yuan (3 million U. S. dollars) from China in support of the development of the diamond rich southern African country, the government said on Thursday.

China's new offer made on Wednesday brings the total to 30 million yuan (4.5 million dollars) this year.

In May, Botswana received 10 million yuan (1.5 million U. S. dollars) as part of the Chinese technical assistance program to African countries.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Botswana Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo welcomed the grant especially at the time when Botswana, like most mineral dependent African economies, has been affected by the financial crisis.

"This grant agreement will most certainly go a long way in strengthening further our bilateral cooperation with China," Matambo said.

The money will be used to help Botswana implement some of its priority projects in its seven-year master development plan, the National Development Plan Ten (NDP 10).

The minister said consultations were still ongoing regarding projects to be implemented with the earlier grant.

The Chinese Ambassador to Botswana, Liu Huanxing, said although his country was not spared by the economic crisis, it would keep its pledge made to the African country.

Botswana has been a recipient of Chinese grants since 1973. The Chinese government has increased the support to 73 million yuan (11 million dollars) in grants and close to 1.2 billion yuan (178 million dollars) in soft loans to the country.

"The grants and loans have been used to implement projects in sectors including transportation, education, energy, agriculture and housing," the minister said.