FOCAC: Understanding China-Africa Areas of Cooperation

by Admin (Posted on September 17, 2024)

By Ernest Jovan Talwana

The Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is the official multi-lateral cooperation mechanism within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) between several African countries and China. Each FOCAC summit usually results in a three-year action plan, with activities agreed on to be implemented bilaterally between China and individual African Countries and with China pledging support for African countries in several areas of cooperation. Let’s understand the various sectors of cooperation encompassed in this year’s summit, which happened on Wednesday, Sep 4, 2024 – Friday, Sep 6, 2024.

Differently put, one may wonder what is in it for Africa? African countries have various individual and collective development goals which they pursue when they go to the FOCAC meetings. This year, those goals are encapsulated in a number of highlighted commitments between China and African nations to realize mutual cooperation, economic growth and sustainable development. These areas include Mutual learning among civilisations; Trade prosperity; Industrial chain cooperation; Connectivity; Development cooperation; Health; Agriculture and livelihoods; People-to-people exchanges; Green development and lastly Common security.

FOCAC is a critical platform for China-Africa cooperation because of its unique consideration for supporting the Global South’s priorities. In this, it offers an alternative to the restrictive, arrogant, talk-down kinds of aid dependency that African states had endured for decades under the patronage of Western-Bretton Woods institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. With FOCAC, African leaders can now negotiate mutually beneficial agreements with China in a manner never precedented in history.

Cooperating on common security

No development can happen in a state of insecurity. African countries have been tied back from the course of development because many spend great attention, resources and time while fighting civil wars, terrorism and against Western imperialism. This state of chronic insecurity affects their ability to concentrate on infrastructural development and modernisation while the rest of the world is advancing. China under FOCAC promised to give Africa $140.5M in military assistance. Additionally, Comrade Xi Jinping committed to having training programs, and joint military exercises to create a “mine-free Africa” in order to the safety of people working on developmental infrastructure projects. This is a solid guarantee of peace and security to Africa to set off on its modernisation agendas.

Deepening Industrial Cooperation

Development cannot happen without industrialisation. African economies are currently largely importers of foreign goods which leads to a haemophilic drainage of their foreign reserves due to spending the little they have on buying external goods. To end this parasitic bleeding of African economies, China will support the construction of industrial clusters in Africa to empower Africans to engineer their own products and become industrially self-reliant. It also promised to build a technology cooperation center with 20 digital demonstration projects in Africa.

Providing opportunities for Trade prosperity

About 33 African countries stand to gain from China’s zero-tariff policy. This is good because many less developed countries especially in Africa lack sufficient capacity to trade with rich countries like China due to tariff barriers. Therefore, a zero-tariff policy will not only open China’s market further but also create an opportunity for African states to sell to the Chinese huge market.

Supporting Connectivity

China is already Africa’s biggest infrastructural development financer. Over 100,000 kilometres of road networks and expressways have been built in Africa with Chinese support in order to have connectivity. Additionally, bridges, hydropower dams, railway lines and ports have been built in China. To this, the FOCAC summit came with more promises by China to work on 30 infrastructure projects in Africa. This will further deepen our mutual Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation.

Cooperating in building robust Public Health

Africa is highly a disease-ridden continent, which puts a heavy burden on our national budgets and eats away at our developmental budget. Poor public health systems also render millions of Africans an economically unproductive constituency of their governments, while at the same time collapsing the public wallet because of the health expenditures. China will build more hospitals under the China-Africa hospital alliance to provide health care to Africans. It will also support us with over 2,000 medical personnel in addition to investing in Africa’s pharmaceutical production. This will go a long way in strengthening public health systems on the continent.

Promoting Agriculture and improving livelihoods

China promises financial support in food assistance as well as building agricultural demonstration areas and sending experts and creating jobs through joint ventures with African entrepreneurs. Some of these projects are already running, and Uganda is one of the exemplary beneficiaries with a robust rice farming scheme supported by China in Butalejja district.

Cooperating on Green development

As the world weans itself off of crude oil due to its deleterious effect on the climate, China is poised to implement 30 clean energy projects in Africa and also support the protection of our rich biodiversity. FOCAC also earned us cooperation on nuclear technology and space exploration, fields which are key to our energy needs and communication.

Promoting People-to-people exchanges

China promised to enable the growth of vocational education in Africa by offering training opportunities for our youth to learn hands-on skills they can use to build industrial products. This is a very constructive area of collaboration since it is where Chinese excellence is – in a large population of skilled people with hands-on capabilities.

In conclusion, there are a lot of opportunities that we look forward to harness from the concluded FOCAC summit. Many commitments and promises were made. It is now time for work to utilise the goodwill China has shown us over the years. Our previous dealings with China have proved that it is a reliable development partner which is keen on real results and practical cooperation. As such, its promises can be banked on.

The writer is a research fellow at the Sino-Uganda Research Center.

 

 

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