Johannesburg - Sandile Zungu, the current president of the Black Business Council (BBC) said he welcomed the Belt and Road Africa fund announced at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summer Davos meeting recently.
The fund, which will be capitalised with a US$1billion from wealthy Chinese investors, will be headed by Chairman designate, Dr Iqbal Survé.
According to insiders, the fund will focus on investments on the African continent, which will include co-investments in infrastructure, technology, e-Commerce, artificial intelligence (AI).
“This fund will bring about a positive change in the African continent. We are most delighted that the fund will serve as a bridge between African and Chinese businesses bringing growth in economic transformation for African countries” said Zungu.
In a statement, Zungu congratulated the Chairman-designate, Survé, on his appointment.
Zungu was confident that he will serve the interests of the country well, seeing that he fully understands the challenges of access to capital that bedevil the organisation’s members.
“We are aware that the fund will focus on the African continent as a whole, but happy that South Africa will benefit from it as well. We are positive that this fund will enable black-owned and run companies in the African continent to play a meaningful role in the mainstream economy,” said Zungu.