Accelerating Industrialization
Collaboration under FOCAC promotes development of local production capacity in Zambia
Despite the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic that sent global economies into a downward spiral, trade and investment relations between China and Zambia have continued. Certainly, this reflects the great commitment and determination of the two nations to foster trade and investment ties.
Despite a myriad of socio-economic challenges due to COVID-19, Zambia presents a silver lining and remains open for investment and doing business with China.
Since the establishment of the Forum on China-africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 21 years ago and the recent Belt and Road Initiative for international cooperation, China has become a great driving force for Africa’s development.
The trade between China and Africa has grown about 20-fold and hit $208.7 billion in 2019. In the same year, Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa reached $49.1 billion; with more than $200 billion of Chinese financial support generated by 2019.
China has been a big financial source for Africa’s development endeavors after a total of $60 billion in financing was pledged for Africa at the FOCAC Beijing Summit in September 2018. This comprised $15 billion of grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, $20 billion of credit lines, the setting up of a $10-billion special fund for development financing and a $5-billion special fund for financing imports from Africa. Chinese companies are also encouraged to make at least $10 billion of investment in Africa in the next three years.
The trade between China and Africa has grown about 20-fold and hit $208.7
billion in 2019. In the same year, Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa reached $49.1 billion; with more than $200 billion of Chinese financial support generated by 2019, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi revealed in 2020, the 20th anniversary of FOCAC.
Undoubtedly, there is no other country with such depth and breadth of engagement across trade, investment and infrastructure financing in Africa.
Fruitful cooperation
In this context, the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Zambia’s Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry and China’s Jiangxi Province during the 2018 FOCAC summit held in Beijing was not in vain as it is being actualized in Chibombo District of central Zambia.
Zambian President Edgar Lungu said the project by a consortium of Chinese companies, Jiangxi United Industrial Investment Ltd., marked another symbol of the strong relationship between the two countries which dates back to pre-independence period.
“It is indeed a great mark of achievement to see that it’s not long ago that we visited China, but we are already witnessing the fruits of our visit. This is an indication of the importance that the People’s Republic of China attaches to the bilateral cooperation with Zambia,” said the president during the ground-breaking ceremony of the Jiangxi Multi-facility Economic Zone (MFEZ) in Chibombo District in 2018.
He noted that Zambia has already started benefiting from the $60 billion in funding support, as evidenced by the industrial park.
For this reason, the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) signed an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) with Jiangxi United on the operation and construction of the MFEZ.
“We are impressed with your investment which touches on pertinent subsectors of the economy contributing to the country’s economic transformation and industrial agenda of the Vision 2030. We are excited that the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry and the Jiangxi Province of the People’s Republic of China was not in vain, but (is) being actualized,” ZDA Board
Chairperson Bishop David Masupa said during the IPPA Signing Ceremony held in Chibombo District on March 8.
Masupa said the agency was pleased to witness the development of a $600-million MFEZ in Chibombo that had potential to generate up to 20,000 jobs.
Jiangxi United’s investment in Zambia’s central region will take account of a local area development program that includes the establishment of a skill training institute, a service center for use by the surrounding small and medium-sized enterprises, a clinic and police station, among other infrastructure developments.
According to MFEZ management, the five Chinese investors in the project include Golden Eagle Tobacco with planned investment of $100 million in tobacco processing, Jiangxi Xinyu Iron and Steel Group with $20 million pledged investment for building a steel processing plant, Jiangxi Electric Porcelain Chamber of Commerce with $5 million for an electrical porcelain factory, V.L. Pharmaceutical Investment Group with $30 million for a medical equipment factory and Sun Line International Logistics with $5 million for a logistics service center.
MFEZ General Manager Xu Jianfeng noted that by September 2020, Jiangxi United had already signed five agreements with investors with a combined total of approximately $160 million.
The production of Golden Eagle Tobacco, one of the Chinese investors, is currently underway at the MFEZ.
“It is good to see the tobacco plantation and the curing of tobacco by the Golden Eagle Tobacco Corp. Ltd., one of the companies operating in the zone. The company recently signed an IPPA with ZDA,” Masupa said during the tour of the tobacco plantation and reiterated the government’s desire to see the actualization of pledged investments.
Sustained growth
China’s expanding investments have facilitated the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in African nations including Zambia. The inflow of FDI from the government and private enterprises enhances the inclusive development potential of the continent.
“Once the five investors start their business operations, it is envisaged that 1,800 jobs will be created for the local people. So far, the tobacco plantation and processing and the concrete-making station are already under operation and about 200 jobs have been created for the locals,” said Xu.
It is a fact that Chinese investments and external financing have been indispensable to sustained economic growth in many African countries during the FOCAC period. Such investments have contributed to building world-class economic infrastructure, injected much-needed capital, introduced new technologies and modern management know-how, and strengthened management of project implementation in economies such as Zambia.
“We are convinced that this investment will profoundly contribute to accelerating industrialization and spur economic diversification, so that the country transitions to a prosperous middle-income economy by 2030,” ZDA Director General Mukula Makasa noted.
It is evident that the gains achieved under FOCAC and Belt and Road Initiative have indeed built a shared future and substantial collaboration in socio-economic fields in a bid to improve people’s livelihoods. CA
The agency was pleased to witness the development of a $600-million MFEZ in Chibombo that had potential to generate up to 20,000 jobs. BISHOP DAVID MASUPA Board Chairperson of the Zambia Development Agency
In the afternoon of April 14, Doctor Zhang Zhenshan in the Regional Hospital of Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, was about to leave after work when a local doctor rushed to him. “Doctor Sam (Zhang’s Spanish name), we just got an emergency case. Could you please come and help?” he asked.
Without hesitation, Zhang immediately put on his surgical gown and followed his colleague to the operation room.
The patient was a young man whose right arm was cut open to the bone by a knife. With the help of a Chinese anesthetist, Zhang and his local colleagues successfully did the surgery on the young man.
Setting foot in Africa
Zhang, a 37-year-old orthopedist, previously worked in the Zhongshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Guangdong Province in south China. On January 13, he arrived in the Regional Hospital of Malabo to provide medical aid service as a member of the 31st Chinese medical aid team to Equatorial Guinea. He was accompanied by 24 Chinese doctors, including anesthetists, obstetricians and gynecologists, pediatricians, ophthalmologists and internists.
Though it was Zhang’s first time to set his foot in Equatorial Guinea, the country was not strange to him. One of his uncles had worked there as the head of the 22nd Chinese medical aid team in 2004-06.
“He always shared his experiences working in the hospital with us and I gradually became interested in the country and its people,” Zhang told Chinafrica. “He often told me that a young man should bravely shoulder responsibilities and stand out in times of need. I was really inspired by his words.”
When he got the news that his city Zhongshan was recruiting members of the 31st Chinese medical aid team to Equatorial Guinea in March 2020, he immediately registered and got support from his wife, also a doctor, and his son. After several rounds of examinations and interviews, he attended a six-month training session in Spanish language, foreign-related protocols and novel coronavirus prevention before leaving for Equatorial Guinea in early 2021. They were deployed in hospitals in the country’s capital Malabo and its largest city Bata.
China started sending medical aid teams to Equatorial Guinea in 1971. During the past 50 years, Guangdong Province dispatched a total of 586 medical workers in 31 teams to the country. Their hard work gained recognition of local people. A total of 279 members have been awarded with the Orders of Independence of Equatorial Guinea, the highest honor of the country.
“For me, a doctor, my mission is to save people in need. No matter working at home or in a foreign country, I will surely do my best,” said Zhang.
As COVID-19 is still a great threat to the African country, Zhang and his teammates were vaccinated before leaving China. “I am a little bit concerned about COVID-19 spreading in the country, but not anxious about it too much,” said Zhang.
Overcoming difficulties
After a 14-day quarantine, Zhang and his teammates started work.
“During the 14 days, I tried to imagine the difficulties I might meet during my work here. In reality, I encountered more difficulties than I had imagined,” smiled Zhang.
Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanishspeaking country in Africa. Though Zhang and his teammates had been trained in Spanish language for half a year before coming to the country, language was still a barrier between Zhang and his patients.
“Fortunately, they [local patients] know we are from China and always speak slowly to us,” said Zhang. “When they told me about their conditions, I would also learn new words and expressions and I would often write them down. After work, I and my teammates sat together and shared what we had learned. This was a good way to improve our language.”
Within two months, Zhang and his teammates no longer needed to worry about communicating with their patients. “Finally, we overcame the difficulty,” he said.
Lack of sufficient medical facilities and medicines was another challenge. For several months after arriving in the country, he attended to many patients who were attacked by stray dogs.
“In my hospital in China, handling dog bite wound is very simple. You just clean the wounds, sterilize them, lower the inflammation, vaccinate patients and change their dressings regularly. This way, the patients usually recover with satisfactory results,” explained Zhang.
But owing to the lack of adequate facilities and medicines, or a long distance to the hospital, in Equatorial Guinea, many who are attacked by stray dogs cannot get treated in time, leading to serious consequences. “I even saw some people needing amputation of their legs. It’s really regretful,” said Zhang.
Training local doctors
Zhang has his own way to cope with the lack of medical facilities. “In traditional Chinese medicine system, we can use some hand skills and very simple tools to treat chronic illnesses, like the stick I am using here,” said Zhang, showing a piece of stick.
Zhang’s stick is called “magic stick” in his hospital. “The stick is small, but it can play a big role in helping local patients,” said Zhang.
According to him, the stick treatment is especially effective for bone and myofascial diseases, and he can treat diseases like stiff neck in minutes. He found that local people like carrying heavy things on their head, which puts pressure on their cervical vertebra. “With the stick, we can cure this kind of disease effectively. There is no need for any medicine,” said Zhang.
His stick treatment technology also attracted interest from his local colleagues in the hospital. So far, three doctors in the hospital are learning this skill from him.
Rodríguez Suárez, who works in the hospital as an orthopedist, is one of them. He saw Zhang treat so many patients with the stick and personally experienced the treatment. After that, he asked Zhang whether he could learn the skill.
“Certainly, I am very glad to teach him,” said Zhang. “I hope to pass this technology to local doctors so that they can use the technology to treat patients after I leave the country. That’s why I came here.”
Now, Suárez can treat some patients with the stick. But for some complicated cases, he still needs Zhang’s instruction. “I think he will be able to treat all such patients by himself by the time my term ends 20 months later,” Zhang said.
“Doctor Sam is very professional and friendly. He often helps me and teaches me a lot,“said Iricel Concierto, a doctor in the hospital who is also learning the stick treatment technology from Zhang.
Zhang said his work is more than just providing medical assistance; it’s more like cultural exchange. “Some people call us diplomats in white gowns. I quite agree with that. We are promoting mutual understandings between peoples of our two countries,” said Zhang. CA