Interview: China's post-pandemic rebound key to Africa's economic recovery -- Zimbabwean expert

China's post-pandemic economic rebound is key to Africa's economic recovery since the continent largely depends on commodity exports to the Asian country, a Zimbabwean expert has said.

In an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, Donald Rushambwa, a researcher at the Harare-based China-Africa Economic and Culture Exchange Research Center, said that with COVID-19 dealing a heavy blow to major global economies, China is expected to play an important role in driving Africa's post-pandemic economic recovery.

"Africa relies very much on exporting their natural resources to China, and we also rely on importing finished goods from China. If that balance is not met by the recovery of the Chinese economy, there could be a further recession in other countries, especially (those) in Africa, because they would not have a strong trade partner," he said.

Due to the economic fallout of the pandemic, economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to fall to -3.3 percent in 2020, driving the region into its first recession in 25 years, according to the World Bank's Africa Pulse, a twice-yearly economic update for the region.

However, China's demand for Africa's commodities following its successful handling of the pandemic is expected to bring relief to African economies, said Rushambwa, adding that China's economic rebound offers valuable lessons to Africa on post-pandemic recovery.

"What we have learnt from China's recovery is that Africa really needs to innovate and we really need to digitalize," he said.

China was the first country to be hit by COVID-19 and the first to bring it under control in the world. Like other countries hit by the pandemic, China's economy suffered greatly over the course of the outbreak.

The Chinese economy contracted 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020, but increased by 3.2 percent in the second quarter and maintained a steady growth of 4.9 percent in the third quarter.

The early containment of the coronavirus has allowed China's productive sectors to resume operation and recover. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China is expected to be the only major economy globally to register positive growth in 2020.