DEEP-ROOTED COMMITMENT

Companies taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa emboldened as China renews its commitment to the continent at FOCAC 2018

Only with deep roots can a tree yield rich fruit. These words resonate strongly with Sun Pishu. They are an accurate description of how his company has adapted and evolved in Africa throughout the years despite the obstacles and challenges. Its roots grow deeper with every project.

“Chinese enterprises should not simply invest in and trade with Africa. They should use their strong sense of social responsibility and mission to promote the continent’s development and share China’s best technology, ideas and experience,” Sun said.

As the CEO of Inspur Group, one of China’s leading IT companies, Sun has learnt firsthand how critical it is for Chinese businesses to pay close attention to local African needs in order to take root and bear fruit on the continent.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Chinese President Xi Jinping used the very same analogy in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on September 3.

Xi pointed out that partnerships between Chinese and African businesses have been successful in addressing the lack of infrastructure and other issues that constrain Africa’s development.

Great progress has been made on the continent in the areas of industrialization and modernization, infrastructure construction, trade and investment facilitation, capacity building, and poverty alleviation, he said.

Much to the delight of the participating leaders—who hailed from 53 countries, in addition to a delegation from the African Union (AU) Commission—xi promised that China’s support would continue over the next three years, pledging a further $60 billion in financing to Africa.

Xi described Africa as a historical and natural extension of the ancient Silk Road, and as an important participant in the Belt and Road Initiative. Looking forward, he said that China hopes to turn the Belt and Road Initiative into a road of peace, prosperity, openness, green development and innovation that brings together different civilizations.

“We need to see to it that the Belt and Road Initiative and the AU Agenda 2063, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the development programs of African countries better complement each other. Through these efforts, we can expand areas of cooperation, unlock new cooperation potential, consolidate our traditional areas of cooperation and foster new highlights of cooperation in the new economy,” said Xi.

Partnership through technology

For Sun, who attended the High- Level Dialogue of China- Africa Leaders and Business Representatives and the Sixth China-africa Business Forum, which also took place as part of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, this renewed commitment from the Chinese president is good news.

“China and Africa are both in a developmental stage. Therefore, they can work together to overcome common obstacles, in addition to building, exchanging and sharing know-how and experience in economic development,” he said.

From its first foreign venture on the continent many years ago, his company has now become one of the largest providers of cloud computing and Big Data solutions, with its products having been adopted across Africa. To date, Inspur has established itself in more than 100 countries around the world.

Sun believes that emerging technologies have brought about equal development opportunities to many countries. By learning from China’s experience in information technology (IT), African countries can directly benefit from cutting-edge developments such as cloud computing and Big Data. This can help them promote industrialization and modernization, while supporting their integration with the global economy, he said.