FOCAC needs to deepen China-Africa friendship.

Published: August 14,2024

By Mubarak Mugabo

The 9^th Forum on China Africa cooperation (FOCAC)summit is expected to provide a new development direction guiding cooperation between the two friendly sides.

The last summit held in Dakar, Senegal yielded new nine programs to be implemented in the next three years as summarized in President Xi Jinping’s speech.

Having taken place virtually in the midst of the worst pandemic of our times Covid19, the programs mostlyfocused on economic recovery of Africa which had been greatly affected.

Many businesses had downsized on human labor as others closed causing unemployment hence intensifying conflict in some already fragile states. With scarce resources and the support of China, fortunately some African businesses weathered the storm.

Even after Covid-19 effects, China remains the largest trading partner with Africa having reached a record bilateral trade volume of $282 billion in 2023. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also shows that 16% of Africa’s imports come from China with over 20% of Africa’s exports reaches Chinese market.

China’s commitment to grant zero tariffs on agricultural products produced in Africa remains an engine to balance trade and trigger social-economic transformation.

These achievements are just an addition on to the already funded mega physical infrastructure projects in Africa. According to Ugandan government, China remains the only guaranteed source of easy, fast and no strings attached infrastructure financing in the world.

Although China has maintained it’s promise ofproviding a high quality Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)and assisting Africa deal with prevailing challenges,the forthcoming summit in Beijing needs to focus on consolidating what has been achieved and advancing further opening up while forging a new direction for development amidst new emerging threats.

There obviously challenges affecting the already existing development programs, for example the already funded infrastructure still needs more qualified human resource to run them and create new ways of benefiting from them.

In Uganda, China funded the first ever toll expressway- the $476 million Kampala Entebbe Expressway, there is no doubt that expressway has been able to benefit the country in many ways but not limited to spur industrialization and employment opportunities.

Kampala- Entebbe Express Highway

However, Uganda did not have homegrown companiesthat can facilitate or manage the project. It opted for a French company to do the job. China also funded the Nairobi Kenya Expressway and the story is not different.

It’s true China has supported Africa in developing human resources and in fact according the 2021 China’s white paper on Africa, since 2012, out of more than 50,000 trainees, over 8000 Africans received agricultural training programs in China.

The training needs to go as deeper as training groups to form companies that can facilitate the management of these cooperation projects. Management of these projects may be supported by intensifying governance sharing opportunities between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and African ruling political parties.

There is undisputable evidence showing how the CPC has led a miraculous transformation of China in the shortest period of time in history, less than eight decades! African politicians need to continue learning from CPC’s experience.

For example, China’s take off point was mostly seen during the 1970’s opening up policies, China’s experience during this period needs to be shared in deeper terms with Africa.

Guided by the wise leadership of President Xi Jinping China-Africa cooperation has made unmatched strides especially in areas and benefits Africa had been denied from the then major powers in the west.

Africa had for decades struggled with infrastructure funding, having over 600 million people in Africa withno access to grid electricity and road network by the year 2000.

As the West mostly focused on imposing western “democratic values” on the continent while disregarding Africa’s needs for infrastructure development financing, China came to its rescue.

It’s intriguing how the United States have started funding projects in Africa which it has branded as a debt trap. Early this year the United States announced the approval of over $1billion to fund the Trans-Africa railway link from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. However, the implementation is likely to turn out like other empty promises the US has made in Africa in the past years.

They are now doing exactly what China-Africa cooperation has been advocating for. The difference is that they do it to counter China in Africa and yet China did and still does more because of friendship and mutual respect it enjoys with the continent.

It is therefore important for China-Africa cooperation programs to move from just funding and construction to facilitating capacity building in managing these projects.

Others including the West will be left with no other option except to jump on to another bandwagon.

Since 2000 the FOCAC arrangement has been able to serve as a channel for shared development between the two great friends, yielding immense outcomes that saw countries who criticized it at first trying to do exactly the same to march it.

Therefore, FOCAC needs to come up with new Cooperation programs that will further open up Africa and China to guide the journey to a shared future.

Mubarak Mugabo, is a Ugandan Journalist and researcher.