Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

China remains the most successful developing nation and naturally many developing countries across Africa hope to replicate this story.

Many have revamped their infrastructure, replacing old technologies with new and China has played a big role in both financing and building lavish infrastructural projects across Africa.

The biggest beneficiaries so far are Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola and Nigeria, but as China's relations in Africa deepen, particularly in East Africa and the Horn of Africa, new data is likely to show that the list of beneficiaries has grown.

Developing countries in Africa striving to reduce poverty, grow their economies and improve their general quality of life seem to only have one agenda in writing their own success story - infrastructure.

Though infrastructure is certainly a big aspect of China's success story, there is more to this story than good roads.

First and foremost the biggest misconception is that infrastructure equals good roads, which is true, but it also means more than that.

It also means reliable power, revamped and state-of-the-art ports and strong cellphone coverage.

Improving accessibility and communications cannot be achieved by solely building good roads and China is a sterling model of how to build infrastructure that speaks to both growth and development.

Having said that, Africa must embrace what China refers to as a complete "change of system."

In many developing countries, there is an overemphasis on building cities as rural areas are marginalized remaining unattractive to investors, leading to massive rural to urban migration.

The development of the agricultural sector and rural development are a big part of China's success story.

Ten years ago just like in many developing countries China's rural areas were characterized by an extreme shortage of capital that crippled significant economic growth but when the government turned its focus to these underdeveloped areas, the results were astounding.

In just six years, a massive 95 percent of these previously grossly underdeveloped areas had access to good roads, electricity, strong phone coverage and access to natural gas which resulted in a significant increase in the average annual income of Chinese living in rural areas.

Though most developing countries are characterized by agrarian economies, farming continues to be undertaken by peasant farmers who barely break even.

Toward job security, economic stability and to even support economic reforms, China has shown just how key private enterprises are.

This has largely been achieved through the development of sound policy and the efficient implementation of the same, but also through financing for small local private enterprises.

Many small and medium private enterprises in developing countries are crippled by the bureaucratic processes that they must follow, and the high interests on loans that are often revised upward in tandem with rising inflation.

China has successfully liberalized its market making it appealing to foreign investors who are thriving while also making positive contributions to the economy.

The Chinese skill set is astounding and the outsourcing industry has gained significant traction. China's capacity to absorb offshore contracts particularly in information technology places this nation in a class of its own.

China is estimated to have 7,000 outsourcing firms providing services to foreign companies.

As the world becomes increasingly digital, outsourcing will rival manufacturing in terms of its economic contribution to the economy.

The value of offshore work done in China is already in the billions proving that there is a need for developing countries to diversify and intensify the skill set within the workforce.

Good roads will not be enough to drive growth and development reminiscent of China.

The author is a Kenya-based journalist. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn