Twice in the past three years, President Hu Jintao has been warmly welcomed in Africa as the leader of a friendly country from afar.

And it will certainly be no different on Hu's eight-nation trip to the continent which started yesterday he will receive another warm and spectacular reception, especially with his focus on further boosting trade and following through on aid promises.

The remarks were made by Benjamin W. Mkapa, former president of Tanzania and now the chairman of the South Center, a Geneva-based intergovernmental organization of developing countries.