China will deliver another one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Africa and encourage Chinese companies to invest no less than $10bn in the continent over the next three years, President Xi Jinping has said, according to Reuters.

The country has already supplied nearly 200 million doses to Africa, where vaccination rates have fallen behind amid growing concern over the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which was first identified in southern Africa.

Xi said 600m doses would be donations and 400m doses would be provided through other means such as joint production by Chinese companies and relevant African countries. China will also build 10 health projects in Africa and send 1,500 health experts, he said.