"Hi-tech products from China such as computers, mobile phones and software are more and more popular in African countries, just like China-made clothes and shoes," Togo businessman Coubadja said.

Chinese products are cheaper than those from the U.S. and Japan, and the quality is good, according to Coubadja, who is here to attend the 2007 annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank.

"I just bought a Lenovo computer for my family," he said.

High-quality, competitively-priced cameras, televisions and computers from China are on sale in shops in Benin, said Eloge Houessou, a macro economist with UEMOA from the Republic of Benin.

Statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce show the proportion of hi-tech products in China's exports to Africa rose from 8 to 10 percent in 2005. Together, electronic and hi-tech products make up 45 percent of the total.

"African countries have realized the importance of hi-tech industries such as telecommunications for an economy. The development of Africa is an opportunity for China which has advanced technologies in these sectors," said Joseph Ibara, Togo's minister of Economics and Finance.

The number of cellphone users in Africa has grown at an annual rate of over 40 percent since 2000 to reach 187 million by the end of 2006. Analysts are betting on 50 million new users each year for the foreseeable future.

Some hi-tech giants such as Huawei and Lenovo, as well as a number of medium- and small-sized firms, are already active in the African market.

Africa is an emerging market with robust demand for hi-tech products, and the operating cost of projects is relatively low, said Wang Wei, manager of a Wuhan information company in central China that sells subscriber identity module cards for cellphones in African countries such as Kenya, Madagascar and Tanzania.

Wang said he was attending the Shanghai annual meeting to seek more opportunities in Africa.

African customers used to have little faith in hi-tech products from China but that has changed, according to Wang. They are now widely recognized and sell better.

Chinese companies should invest more in advertising and developing new products in the future, said Ibara.