Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: October 02,2024
By Gerald Mbanda
On 1st October, China celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In this period of 75 years, China has moved from one of the poorest countries in the world to the second largest economy in the world and number one manufacturing country globally.
In the 1960s, per capita income in China was only $89. A number of African countries like South Africa had per capita of $433, Zimbabwe $281, Senegal $247, the present day Democratic republic of Congo (DRC) had $ 220, Ghana $183. Some other countries like Kenya, Liberia and Ivory Coast were far ahead of China economically. By the end of 2024, China’s GDP per Capita is expected to reach $12,758, while that of South Africa is projected to reach $ 6,073 and DRC will be a more $587.48.
In a span of 75 years, China’s GDP has risen from $47.21B in 1961 to 126 trillion Yuan (around 17.7 trillion U.S. dollar) in 2023, accounting for approximately 17 percent of the global economy. This is miraculous economic growth unmatched in recent times.
The above scenario should draw African countries to a drawing table and ask themselves, how China managed to catch up with those African countries economically and surpass them, but also outcompeted even developed countries at incomparable levels. Today, Chinese modernization has transformed China and influenced the world in several aspects. There is no country so far, that has modernized at such a supersonic speed like China. Africa has the potential to follow in the footsteps of China to realize the same economic miracles.
An old Chinese proverb goes like this; “If you want to be wealthy, build roads first.” Sustainable infrastructure has been intensively developed not only to deliver basic services but also to stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life and competitiveness of all regions.
Whenever I travel to China, I marvel at the huge infrastructure development, roads railways, ports and airports connecting the vast country, the easy movement of people, good and services across the provinces as well as across borders. Over 2,800 pairs of bullet trains connect over 550 cities daily in China. High speed train connects Beijing to Shanghai, a distance of 1,318 km in 4.5 hours.
Africa is still lagging behind on intra trade because of lack of durable roads and railways connectivity. The good news is that China is closely working with African countries on infrastructure development as well as supporting the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is expected to boost intra Africa trade by an estimated 33 percent, while cutting the continent’s trade deficit by 51 percent. The Forum for China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are China’s development model for shared development not only with Africa but with the rest of the world.
The success story of China can be largely attributed to effective and transformational leadership which has put in place domestic and foreign policies that have enhanced domestic development and mutual cooperation with other countries. Mutual respect for other civilizations and equality of all nations’ rich or poor has been China’s charm to attract many friends both in rich and poor countries. China has been and still takes the lead as the voice of the voiceless especially through South South Cooperation.
Since inception, the ruling party- The Communist Party of China (CPC) has pursued Whole-process people’s democracy centred on people as a whole and the pursuit of their common welfare without discrimination. This objective has put CPC at the forefront of unity of all people, irrespective of their background in advancing China’s modernization. African countries can do much better by borrowing a leaf from China.
Many governments on the African continent including those endowed with vast natural resources have failed the people where leaders enrich themselves through corrupt tendencies leaving the majority citizens to live in abject poverty. When president Xi Jinping took office after the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party held in Beijing in November 2012, he vowed to crack down on corrupt leaders at all levels code named “tigers and flies” without fear or favour. The African countries I mentioned which were doing well economically in the 1960s, their development was halted by corruption which ran from the top of the leadership down to the lowest levels. With serious efforts to fight corruption, a number of African countries would wean themselves from foreign aid dependency.
For the last 75 years, China has not been involved in any war against any country despite the fact that its military capabilities rank among the first global superpowers. China believes in shared development and peaceful co-existence. China has proposed the three global Initiatives namely; the Global Security Initiative (GSI), the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) and the Global Development Initiative (GDI) for the promotion of global peace, mutual respect of civilizations and shared development.
China is the second-largest contributor to peacekeeping operations, and the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. China has been an advocate for peaceful settlement of conflicts in Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Palestine conflict, and has mediated reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and several other efforts. Similarly, for African countries to develop peace is a prerequisite. Chinese peacekeepers have been
China miraculously lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, thus eradicating extreme poverty. China has modernized agriculture and is food secure for its vast population of 1.4billion people. Most of the African countries still practice subsistence farming that relies on the mercy of nature, which sometimes disappoints, with long droughts resulting into crop failure and subsequent hunger.
According to the recent State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, it is estimated that one in five people in Africa faced hunger in 2023. Africa has 60 percent of the world’s available arable land but unfortunately, the continent generates only 10 percent of global agricultural output. China cooperation with African countries in the field of agriculture is key to ensuring increased productivity and ensuring food security.
China’s history of long term planning and timely implementation of national development strategy coupled with innovation has been central to China’s rapid development and modernization. China planned long ago for the two centenary goals to be achieved by 2021 and 2049. The first centenary goal was achieved in 2021 of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, whereby absolute poverty was eliminated. The second centenary goal will be achieved in 2049, whereby China will have become a “strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and modern socialist country.” This will also be a time of celebrating 100 years of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. China’s journey of development and modernization does not happen by chance. It is planned and implemented to the letter. This is a lesson that can benefit African countries in their development trajectory.
Although African countries cannot simply copy and paste China model of development and modernization, borrowing what works in African countries’ context will be important in their development journey. Cooperation platforms between China and Africa such as FOCAC and the Belt and Road Initiative have already transformed the face of Africa for the better.
Congratulations to the Chinese people on the 75th anniversary.
Gerald Mbanda is a researcher and publisher on China-Africa Cooperation
