This month the pretty coastal city of Xiamen is buzzing with African visitors and while they will be taking in the tourist attractions in their spare time, the focus of the visit is the High-Level Symposium on China-Africa Investment Cooperation, held on the sidelines of China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT).

Chinese government policymakers and business leaders will be on hand at the symposium to interact with African investment promotion officials. By all accounts Africa seems to be the place to invest in right now.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan once famously said, "Africa's profitability is one of the best kept secrets in today's world economy." He was onto something. Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) is projected to generate average real growth of 5.9 percent through to 2016 according to the IMF.

From China's side, investment into Africa could rise by 70 percent to $50 billion by 2015 from 2009, as it seeks to acquire resources, according to the Standard Bank Group.

The positive investment energy permeating the business world is set against a backdrop of the negative image of Africa due to the wars and economic difficulties that continue to plague some countries. And right now the most distressing image is of the famine ravaging the Horn of Africa. The UN says that one in three children in the region is suffering acute malnutrition, and Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya is now the largest refugee camp in the world, supporting close to 400,000 people.

There is no doubt that Africa needs immediate international and regional aid to overcome this debilitating famine. The UN has estimated that $2.5 billion is needed to address the humanitarian catastrophe in the Horn of Africa, particularly to tackle famine in Somalia.

But looking at the long-term and more sustainable solution to famine and food security, it becomes clear that investment is the answer.

Research institute Bioversity's Director General Emile Frison said the world must look for more sustainable solutions to famine and pointed to investing in agriculture technology as key. "We need to build the resilience and sustainability of the farmers and pastoralists in the region, investing in research for development, so that poor people everywhere, not just in the Horn of Africa, can make better use of the agricultural biodiversity that is one of the greatest assets they have at their disposal," he said.

Apart from agriculture, investment can assist with injecting funds into Africa's scientific institutions to help develop soil nutrition, water management and higher-yielding crops suitable to local conditions, creating markets for produce, hydroelectric power and most importantly building infrastructure in the forms of roads, bridges, irrigation and railways.

In this context China is actively involved in building infrastructure on the continent. A recent example is a multibillion dollar contract in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to build more that 3,000 km of road and railway, 32 hospitals, 145 health centers and two universities.

This approach to holistic investment prompted Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to comment that China's penetrating of the African market has made a major impact on Africa's implementation of infrastructure projects.

"Without proper infrastructure, for example, the transport of raw materials, products, and fertilizers will be greatly restricted," said Zenawi.

Investing in Africa ultimately improves the lives of its people, who are beneficiaries. Investment also increases dignity and helps remove the reliance on aid that can keep people eternally dependent on others.

The Xiamen Symposium will provide participants with an opportunity to gain deeper insight into the investment environment and policies of African countries, and to share experiences on investment in Africa through case studies. This is bound to encourage further investment cooperation between China and African countries, which can ultimately assist to prevent further famine on the continent that holds so much promise.

The Editor