By John Okeke
China-African friendship has continued to wax strong even as the conference of the Forum on China-African Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Dakar Senegal recorded a huge success .
China-Africa friendship is expected to continue to flourish as cooperation is further deepened in various areas after the ongoing 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Dakar, Senegal.
It could be recalled that at the initiative of both China and African countries, FOCAC was inaugurated at its first Ministerial Conference in Beijing in October 2000, with the goals of responding to the challenges emerging from economic globalization and seeking common development.
FOCAC now has 55 members, comprising China, the 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China, and the AU Commission. China-Africa friendship is expected to continue to flourish as cooperation is further deepened in various areas after the ongoing 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Dakar, Senegal.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the meeting via video link on Monday, President Xi Jinping announced that China will provide an additional one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa, carry out 10 projects on poverty alleviation and agriculture, and conduct more programs with Africa in various areas.
Elaborating on the secret of China-Africa friendship and looking to the future development of their relations, he highlighted unity against the pandemic, deepening practical cooperation, promoting green development, and safeguarding fairness and justice.
To reach the target set by the African Union of vaccinating 60 percent of the African population against COVID-19 by 2022, China will provide another one billion doses of vaccines to Africa, of which 600 million doses will be provided free,” Xi said.
During the toughest times in China’s fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, African countries and regional organizations such as the African Union (AU) provided strong support to China. After COVID-19 struck Africa, China supplied 50 African countries and the AU Commission with COVID-19 vaccines.
“China will never forget African countries’ profound friendship,” Xi said, adding that China will also carry out 10 medical and health projects for African countries and send 1,500 medical team members and public health experts to Africa.
Earlier this week, the main building of the Chinese-funded headquarters for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was structurally completed.
According to Xi , China will work with Africa to expand trade and investment, share experience in poverty alleviation, and strengthen cooperation on digital economy and renewable energy.
He said China will send 500 agricultural experts to Africa, work closely with African countries to implement nine major projects on healthcare, poverty alleviation, trade, investment, digital innovation, green development, capacity building, cultural exchanges and security.
Since the founding of FOCAC, Chinese companies have utilized various funds to help African countries build and upgrade more than 10,000 km of railways, nearly 100,000 km of highways, nearly 1,000 bridges and 100 ports, and 66,000 km of power transmission and distribution network, according to a white paper titled “China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals” released on Friday.
This year marks the 65th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between China and African countries.
Hailing the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, Xi said it reflects the two sides’ experience of sharing weal and woe and serves as the source of strength for furthering China-Africa ties.
“Over the past 65 years, China and Africa have forged unbreakable fraternity in the struggle against imperialism and colonialism, and embarked on a distinct path of cooperation in the journey toward development and revitalization,” he said.
“Together, we have written a splendid chapter of mutual assistance amidst complex changes, and set a shining example for building a new type of international relations,” he said.
Xi put forward the principles of China’s Africa policy: sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and pursuing the greater good and shared interests.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be a new milestone in China-Africa relations.
Wang made the remarks at a joint press conference with Senegalese Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall after their meeting.
Noting that the present is an important moment for the world’s anti-pandemic fight and economic recovery, Wang said Senegal has met the ardent expectations of various African countries to hold the conference on schedule by overcoming the impact of the pandemic, which demonstrates the firm will shared by China and Africa to jointly overcome difficulties and seek common development, and again vividly reflects the China-Africa community with a shared future.
Wang re-expressed his thanks to the Senegalese government and people for their important contributions to the convening of this conference.
FOCAC, Wang said, is an important platform for collective dialogue and an effective mechanism for practical cooperation between China and Africa, and has become a paradigm of international development cooperation and a model for South-South cooperation thanks to 20 years of joint efforts by both sides.
Since the establishment of the forum, Chinese enterprises have built for Africa more than 10,000 km of railways, nearly 100,000 km of highways, nearly 1,000 bridges, 100 ports and more than 80 large-scale power facilities, said Wang, adding that Chinese firms have also helped countries in Africa build more than 130 medical facilities, 45 gymnasiums and more than 170 schools, and trained more than 160,000 professionals in various fields for the continent.
He also noted that Chinese medical teams have so far treated 230 million patients in Africa, and a network service sponsored by China is serving nearly 700 million user terminals, saying that nowadays, the achievements of China-Africa cooperation can be witnessed across Africa and felt in local communities and families.
Solidarity and mutual assistance between China and Africa have not only consolidated Africa’s independent political status, but also enhanced Africa’s sustainable development capacity, presenting a magnificent picture of China-Africa friendship, he added.
After the 2018 Beijing Summit and the 7th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, China and Africa have overcome the impact of the pandemic, implemented the “eight major initiatives” and put in place the corresponding financing support, Wang said, adding that bilateral trade between China and Africa in the first 10 months of this year exceeded 200 billion U.S. dollars, and is expected to reach a new high by the end of 2021, making China Africa’s largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years.
He also said that the daily progress in China-Africa cooperation is opening up new horizons for China-Africa friendship, creating new opportunities for shared development and bringing new benefits to the Chinese and African people.
After the 8th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, China and Africa are aiming at building the China-Africa community with a shared future in a new era, and charting out a blueprint for the development of China-Africa relations in the next three years and beyond.
With the joint efforts of China and Senegal as well as all members of the forum, the meeting was a complete success, and made new contributions to Africa’s “double victory” in beating the pandemic and restoring the economy. The forum will kickstart a new great journey for the building of the China-Africa community with a shared future in a new era.
While FOCAC continues to be a successful tool for China’s Africa policy, it is a painful reminder of America’s diplomatic shortfalls in Africa. The United States does not need to create its own version of the forum to achieve the same successes, but it does need a policy toward Africa that plays to America’s strengths and recognizes the importance of relationship-building.
China has focused on economic engagements over and above security and normative concerns, and on face time with African leaders and people-to-people exchanges. At the last FOCAC event in 2018, China announced 50,000 government scholarships and 50,000 short-term training courses. These are offered to university students, law enforcement officials, civil servants, medical staff, agricultural extension workers, and military personnel, among many others across Africa.
Since 2009, China has consistently surpassed the United States as Africa’s largest trading partner. As China has emerged as the world’s 21st-century factory, its appetite for raw materials has provided a solid bedrock for relations with African nations, and it is likely to do so for many years to come.
In response, the United States is looking to reinvigorate its engagements in the region to counter China’s influence where possible. For instance, the Build Back Better World program and the Blue Dot Network are focused on countering China’s ever-trumpeted Belt and Road Initiative—without much thought as to whether the United States can, or should, be trying to compete with China on massive infrastructure projects.
Ultimately it is a positive development that the United States should wish to compete in building much needed infrastructure across the region, but it is hard to see how competitive U.S. firms can be compared to the Chinese firms that have been building roads and railways in Africa since the 1960s. And, of course, infrastructure is often an inherently corrupt and unprofitable line of business that Chinese projects on the continent have grappled with as much as anyone.
Arguably, this myopic focus on countering China’s economic engagements has blinded the United States to its own unique strengths. The prime example of this is the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), due to expire in 2025, a nonreciprocal trade program that gives 39 eligible African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets. This has had catalytic effects on African industrialization, and many of the African manufacturers taking advantage of AGOA are exporting low-tech goods, like textiles, that they could not hope to export to China, as China still has jobs to protect in those same industrial sectors.
Some critics have pointed to the fact that several Chinese firms have actually relocated to Africa in order to take advantage of the opportunities presented by AGOA. However, this should be of little concern to U.S. policymakers. By relocating factories to Africa, these Chinese investors are creating jobs on the continent, spurring demand or supply for other industries, and creating the possibility for knowledge transfers and spillovers such that locals can replicate the industrial processes they are witnessing.
The fact that these Chinese investors may be benefiting financially takes for granted the much more significant contributions to economic development that AGOA has fostered in the few African contexts where Chinese-owned factories operate. This is still a policy that the United States can be proud of and would do well to promote among other wealthy countries.
Ultimately, U.S. policy on Africa is down, but it is certainly not out. Rather than trying to compete on fields where China is better established, it can play to its own strengths. Even though it is mostly virtual, this year’s FOCAC will be another important milestone for China-Africa relations. It is an invitation to the United States to consider what its own route for cooperation might look like in the years to come.
