Untapping Africa’s potential
AFRICAN heads of state have everything to gain from their high-level dialogue with the president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Xi Jinping, and his ministers this week at the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac). The PRC is set to announce major new development projects and financing for the continent in the coming days, which will assist the continent in operationalising its developmental blueprint as set out in the AU’s Agenda 2063.
Like all countries, the PRC is driven by its own national interests, but the Chinese dream of reclaiming national pride and achieving personal well-being dovetails neatly with Africa’s developmental agenda. Together the PRC and Africa will synergise their development strategies and find complementary ways to harness their competitive advantages.
The Focac summit will focus on improving peoples’ livelihood, poverty reduction and investment in the least-developed countries, as well as assisting Africa with industrialisation, food security, public health and disease prevention. These are precisely the imperatives that Africa needs to address with urgency.
The fact that the PRC does not attach political conditions to its assistance, and refrains from interfering in the domestic affairs of African countries, suggests that its engagement is genuinely one of South-South co-operation.
The potential for Africa to leverage skills, technology, financing and access to the PRC’s market of 1.3 billion is a huge opportunity. The fact that the PRC and the African continent have a combined population of over 2.4 billion, or a third of the world’s population, suggests that concerted economic collaboration could reap massive dividends.
If our relationship with the PRC can result in all African capitals being linked by rail, beneficiation hubs established to add value to our raw materials, modern health infrastructure established so that we can effectively respond to epidemics, and low-end industries set up to provide employment, we will have joined hands with the right development partner. If the PRC makes good on its promise to fund the African standby force so that we have the capability to intervene in conflict situations when the rest of the world refuses to, then we will have all the more reason to call the PRC a friend.