Importance of FOCAC to Africa

Published : September 30,2024

By George Nsamba

The recent Forum for Africa China Cooperation (FOCAC) summit that was held from September 4 to 6, 2024 in Beijing- China, is just one of those meetings scheduled to be held every three years. The attendance at this meeting is evidence of the importance that FOCAC has for Africa. Apart from delegates from China, the summit was attended by 53 heads of states and government who brought with them various ministers ranging from foreign affairsto economic cooperation. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission was also in attendance which emphasises how important this summit is for Africa in general.

Attendance aside, let us look deeper why FOCAC is important for Africa. When FOCAC was started in the year 2000, it was meant to cement the relationship between China and African states which for so long were just being exploited by Western powers who on the whole happened to be former colonisers of most of the African states. The relationship between China and Africa though did not start in the year 2000. Africa and China have had a long relationship going as far back as the days when these African countries were trying to liberate themselves from their colonial masters. China was always present as a shoulder to cry on and FOCAC was just to take this relationship further in ways that are meant to develop Africa states.

One just has to look at some West African former French colonies to see the extent of exploitation that has continued long after these countries were said to be given independence yet they get locked into agreements that are only meant to keep exploiting these countries endlessly. Recent coups and government changes in this part of Africa has come as a means to free these countries out of the grip of the western colonisers.

China on the other hand has never colonised Africa and the relationship between China and Africa is not that of master and slave which most African countries have endured from their former colonisers for far too long but that of mutual respect, equality, and centred on win-win cooperation. President Xi Jinping in his key note address said that “China-Africa cooperation seek to jointly advance just, equitable, open, win-win and mutually beneficial modernization that puts the people first”. This has been evidenced at all summit meetings that have taken place since the advent of FOCAC.

Despite being rich in natural resources, Africa has been impoverished by former colonisers to the point where infrastructure development in most Africa countries was pushed to the back row due to lack of development finance which if borrowed from the former colonisers would come with more strings attached in favour of former colonisers.

FOCAC has been a great injection of development in Africa hinged on infrastructure development, industrialisation gearing towards sustainable development. The following statistics tell a big story of how China through FOCAC has been an anchor of Africa development:

During FOCAC II which was held in Addis Ababa in 2002, China introduced a zero-tariff measure for Africa. This is significant because African goods are not competitive in Western markets due to high tariffs that are imposed on these goods. This limitsthe foreign income that African countries would gain from exporting their goods which leaves them in perpetual poverty.

FOCAC III which took place in Beijing in 2006, resulted in China pledging $5 billion in financing to African countries and between then and now, a number of infrastructure projects have been completed in a number of African countries funded mainly by cooperation between China and Africa. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of theresults of the cooperation but FOCAC is taking the cooperation a step further.

In the FOCAC summit which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh Egypt in 2009, China again pledged $10bn funding. In the summit of 2012, held in Beijing China, $20 billion was pledged to go towards addressing peace and security in Africa and in the 2015 meeting held in Johannesburg-South Africa, iswhere $69billion was pledged to go towards the Beltand Road initiative, while $60bn was pledged in the 2018 meeting held in Beijing, and $40billion was pledged in 2021 in Dakar Senegal.

In the 2024 FOCAC meeting that was held in Beijing, China pledged to invest around $50.7 billion in financing for Africa.

The amount of Financing that China has invested in Africa in a short space of time far by passes what former colonisers claim to have invested in Africa if any, in the last half a century. The usual question asked is whether the West or former African colonisers invested in Africa or whether Africa has in fact developed the west in the form of resources that have been plundered by these developed countries.

It is interesting to note the urgency of the western countries to “visit and cement ties” with Africa every time these FOCAC meetings are due to take place, while the real strategy is to contain China by spoiling the good relationship with Africa. 

Africa has long wanted to trade on a basis of equal partnership and respect but were getting conditions pushed down their throats every time they wanted funding either debt finance or grants but this is no more with the existence of FOCAC. The ideas of the global south cooperation is another factor that Africa will benefit from in order to get out of a one directional relationship with the west that has persistent for far too long.

Given the investments that have come and are still coming towards Africa through FOCAC, one can only see that Africa is developing its infrastructure, being involved in peace missions, developing self-worth through mutual cooperation with China. This is a relationship that is developing from strength to strength and African industrialisation will be on the rise which will assist Africa countries in being less reliant to imports from the west.

The author is a Business advisory & Risk management practitioner based in Johannesburg-South Africa.