Chinese President Hu Jintao has pledged to help African countries strengthen their customs departments capacity to control the entry of counterfeit goods. China, a key exporter to Africa has been blamed for most of the fake and substandard goods, ranging from electronics to medical goods, that have flooded the African market in the last ten years.

Speaking at the Forum for China Africa Cooperation in Beijing, President Hu Jintao sought to repair this image, promising to help countries in the region to upgrade their customs and commodity inspection units to curb circulation of substandard goods.

The Communications Commission of Kenya has set September 30th as the deadline for switching off counterfeit phones in operation in the country. It is estimated that close to 3 million subscribers in the country use fake phones most of which originate from China.