Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: June 02,2023
By Gerald Mbanda
The two day twelfth meeting of the China-Africa Think k Narada Hotel in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province concluded on Wednesday, with participants from China and Africa appreciating the centuries’ old friendship journey walked together for development and rejuvenation. The meeting brought together Chinese and African government officials, some African diplomatic envoys in China, representatives of international organizations, leaders, experts and scholars of well-known think tanks, and representatives of Chinese and African media and enterprises, to pool wisdom of the Chinese and African think tanks, push forward to share thoughts on promoting the spirit of China-Africa Friendship and Cooperation and jointly acting on the Global Development Initiative.
While at the meeting, I had to reflect back on the genesis of China-Africa friendship and cooperation and my appreciation was that the story of China and Africa likens distant twins separated by space and time, but having a lot in common as they share the same DNA, feeling for each other and having the same desires and aspirations. Both China and Africa were the origins of human civilization, and have made positive contributions to the advancement and progress of humanity, with close friendship since ancient times.
The 14th-century voyages of Moroccan scholar IbnBattuta, and Somali scholar and explorer Sa’id of Mogadishu to China, and the 15th-century expeditions of Chinese admiral Zheng He to Africa, mark some of the early contacts between the people of China and Africa. Since then, trade and cultural exchanges between China and Africa have greatly expanded. Today, China remains Africa’s largest trading partner for more than a decade.
China and Africa share bitter history of humiliation by foreign forces of occupation and colonialism respectively. In Africa, slave trade killed countless Africans and more than 15million were shipped out of the continent in a barbaric way. Colonialism raped Africa and interfered with cultural civilization, and economic progress. In China, the Nanjing Massacres committed by Japanese troops on Dec 13, 1937, killed approximately 300,000 innocent Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in a period of six weeks. The Opium wars in the 19th century not only weakened China but also brought China’s territory of Hong Kong under the British rule, while the people of China faced dangers of increased opium trade in their country.
Despite the setbacks by foreign invasions, it should be recalled that ancient China is the home to the four great inventions namely; papermaking, printing, gunpowder and the compass which made significant contributions of the Chinese nation to world civilization. Today we celebrate that China supported African countries to fight and overcome colonialism.
Today again we celebrate that, China has regained much of her lost glory and sharing this advancement with Africa. In Sept last year, Three Chinese Taikonauts talked from space with the youth from eight African countries via video link, sharing their experience in the Shenzhou-14 mission. They shared with the African youth their life and scientific work in the space station, which inspired the students to fulfill their dreams.
In 1955, the Asian-Africa Conference held in Bandung- Indonesia, to discuss peace and the role of the Third World in the Cold War, economic development, and decolonization, was a historic moment that strengthened the unity of China and African. After the conference, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai made a ten-country tour of Africa between December 1963 and January 1964. This historic visit was aimed at stimulating African countries to start liberation movements to fight against colonialism and imperialism. China’s support and contribution for an independent Africa is deeply appreciated in the hearts of many African people until today.
The TAZARA or the “Freedom Railway” built between 1968 and 1975 to link the Zambian copperbelt with the Indian Ocean aimed at liberating Zambia from dependency on Apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia. TAZARA was China’s largest development assistance project in Africa at a time when China itself was still struggling with a weak economy. By 1960 China had a Per capita income of $89 and lagged behind Africa countries like; Nigeria($93), Kenya($97), Ivory Coast($153), Liberia($170), Ghana($183), DR Congo ($220), Senegal($247), and Zimbabwe($281) and South Africa which had the highest per capita at ($433). Therefore, China’s support to Africa was not out of plenty but out of brotherly love of sharing the few resources just as twins do in a humble family.
Through the Forum for China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) as well as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a lot of infrastructure developmental projects have been realized which have improved economies. Both BRI and FOCAC programs complement the African Union agenda 2063, which is Africa’s master plan for transforming Africa into a global powerhouse of the future. China has supported the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which will boost African exports by generating an estimated $450billion in income and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035 according to the World Bank figures.
In 2019, the Africa development bank (AfDB) showed that the continent needed a minimum of US$ 130bn- 170bn per annum, for infrastructure development and half of the needed amount remained un funded. China came in to fill the gap. The Chinese proverb which says that, “If you want to prosper, first build roads,” is also true for Africa. Rwanda’s capital city Kigali is one of the cleanest cities in Africa and one of the reasons is that most of the roads are tarmacked by China road and Bridge Cooperation. In The 21st century, cooperation between China and Africa has realized more than 100,000kms of highways, and 10,000kms of railways have been completed in Africa. The African continent needs more infrastructure development to promote both intra-trade and international trade to attract investment and economic growth.
Delegates at the twelfth China Africa Think Tanks Forum.
China and Africa have always supported each other at time of need. At the 26th UN General Assembly, held on October 25, 1971, African countries massively supported a resolution to restore all the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations and immediately took over the seat from the Kuomintang in Taiwan. The Chinese leader at the time, Mao Zedong was grateful for the support by African countries and said this, “It is our African brothers who have carried us into the UN.”
Sino-African healthcare cooperation in the past six decades has been significantly improved health standards in African countries. When the French medical team withdrew its services in Algeria in 1962, the government requested that the international community offer medical aid to its citizens. China responded immediately in 1963 by sending its first medical team marking the genesis of providing medical aid to other African countries.
Since 1963, Chinese medical teams in Algeria have treated an estimated 27.37 million patients, performed about 1.75 million operations and delivered about 2.07 million newborns (June 2023). In my country Rwanda, life expectancy in 1993 was at 42 years, while today (30 years later) an average Rwandan lives for 70 years. Part of this success story is the contribution the Rwanda people get from Chinese medical teams which operate in two hospitals in the country and provide timely and lifesaving medical services. Today, we also see thousands of African students choosing to study in Chinese universities due to affordable quality education.
During the recent outbreak of the Corona Pandemic- COVID-19, China has been at the forefront of supporting African countries to get medical material as well as well as the critically needed vaccines, when most of the western countries were hoarding the life-saving vaccines.
In recent years, Africa has seen rapid transformation and development thanks to the cooperation with China. Landmark infrastructure projects like The AU headquarters and the Africa CDC headquarters, in both in Addis Ababa- Ethiopia, the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, Nairobi-Express Highway, Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway and much more have been realized. China has cooperated with Africa in addressing food shortages by dispatching agriculture experts to construct agricultural demonstration centers for improving yields, irrigation and use of agricultural modern technology. China remains Africa’s largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, and the trade volume exceeded US$280 billion in 2022, while over the past 10 years, it is estimated that China created 18,562 jobs a year on average in Africa.
China has promoted industrialization in Africa by technology transfer and setting up Free Trade Industrial Zones. Technology transfer is a game changer to African economic growth by promoting value addition. In 2020 Germany earned estimated value of €3.4 billion from sale of roasted coffee yet the country does not own a single coffee tree Most of this coffee comes from Africa. Switzerland exported 118,000tonnes of chocolate in 2021 with a value of €722 million yet the country does not grow a single cocoa tree. The Cocoa farmer in Africa gets little value by selling unprocessed products.
Western countries deliberately starved the African continent by denying it technology transfer so that they can maintain the monopoly of manufacturing and determining prices. This is one of the reasons the west is unhappy with China cooperation with Africa. Their hypocrisy and exploitation has been exposed.
China-Africa historical friendship has stood the test of time through bad and good times, in scarcity and in plenty. Today we celebrate various milestones achieved as we look forward to continuing the brotherly journey as a confident community with a shared future. African countries support the One China Principle and look forward to celebrate the day of reunification.
China and Africa cooperation cherishes the principles of sincerity, good faith, and pursuing the greater good and shared interests.
At Africa China Review, we are committed to promoting China-Africa cooperation through our regular online and hard copy publications. We present the true narrative of China and Africa and challenge false narrative especially by western media on China engagement with Africa. The false narrative of the “China Dept trap for Africa” created by the west is out of envy and shame for the great achievements of China -Africa cooperation. The propaganda against China-Africa Cooperation should not discourage us but encourage the resolve to work together towards rejuvenation.
China and Africa have never waged wars of conquest and have no claim to the territories and resources of other states, but have been able to overcome humiliation, attained freedom and have greatly progressed together towards rejuvenation. As China has progressed to become the second largest economy in the world, Africa has progressed as the fastest growing continent in the world and demographicallythe youngest, and also endowed with plenty of natural resources. As the Chinese sage Lao Tzu says, “The one who conquers people is strong; the one who conquers himself is powerful.” China and Africa are conquering themselves towards rejuvenation. The journey of China and Africa is a shared Journey from humiliation to Freedom and Rejuvenation.
There is an Africa proverb which says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” China and Africa chose to go together.
Gerald Mbanda is a Researcher and Publisher at Africa China Review
