IKENNA EMEWU
The 2024 Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit was among the most profound and grandest since its inception.
The body utilised the two dozen productive years to come to full maturity.
Contents of President Xi Jinping’s speech spoke eloquently of the maturity of describing the framework as working in a new era, elevated the relationship between China and all African state parties to FOCAC to strategic partners in diplomacy, and of course pursuing “the overall characterization of China-Africa relations to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.” In addition, the summit adopted “an action plan of the FOCAC for the next three years.”
These strategic steps call for action beyond merely announcing them. This is where the African leaders, about 53 parties to the FOCAC covenant need to pull their weights.
FOCAC should thrive on two-sided efforts. It is a multilateral diplomatic initiative of China which the African countries willingly conceded to. China has sincerely executed FOCAC with vigour and a smooth succession tenacity. There has been no interruption of the project from President Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao and Xi. That on its own is a definition of leadership and consistency that took China to the top.
As we recount the milestones of FOCAC, let’s also admit that they have been powered by China, with African parties just tagging along.
Xi said in his speech that FOCAC has entered into a new era – declaring the establishment of 20 new research centres in African countries, aiding African modernization and infrastructure upgrading, educational, healthcare, and other essential integration that make up the 10-point strategic agenda. These would be actualised through a financial vote of US$50.69b within three years.
Prior to this, China had since 2014 been the unequaled partner of Africa in industrialisation, infrastructural provision, education, cultural exchanges, etc. In 2018, China contributed 12% of Africa’s manufacturing GDP, with 9% in Nigeria. Its infrastructure contracting was 35%, and more than the G7 and European Union’s share in Africa in the period in focus. Between 2014 and 2018, investments worth US$72 billion in 259 projects, from the government’s policy channels created over 137,000 jobs, figures also unrivaled by any other country. However, the total investment from both public and private channels to Africa from China as of 2022 was a value of US$300b.
The figure promised by President Xi through FOCAC for the three-year period is additional impetus.
However, the new era of FOCAC aptly agrees with the evolving and vibrant world in the past 24 years. Kudos to China for not stagnating the framework.
At the next FOCAC Summit, Africans demand that their leaders declare how they utilised the policies of the 2024 summit to better their countries.
As stated earlier, FOCAC is a partnership implying that African leaders also have roles to play to make the body work better and achieve more.
It is easier to vote resources than to put them to successful work. That is where leadership becomes the major driving force.
I challenge African countries that Africans need accountability from them on how these supports from China translate to better leadership of Africa.
In the 24 years of FOCAC, three Chinese leaders have been in charge, but in some African countries, some people who were in power for close to 20 years before FOCAC are still there. Some of them who are even new came to power through shady and illegitimate means. Many African countries can’t give an account of how effectively they have utilised the support from China through FOCAC, or have provided the right environment for the investments and expected ones to thrive and better their economies.
They owe Africans accountability in how they have learned from China to use power to change their countries for the better. Whereas many of these leaders swim in affluence, their citizens sink deeper in poverty. They refuse to learn from the examples of Chinese leadership in liberating over 800 million citizens from abject poverty since the Reforms and Opening Up.
Such leadership examples cast shadows on the good FOCAC has brought Africa. These are some of the reasons that some observers of the China-Africa friendship rather see only loans, which is erroneous.
African leaders should take the challenge of using the FOCAC in the new era to work out a new approach to the growth of the body and Africa and generate enough political will and leadership that will add to the shared benefits for mankind like China.
It is the right time to update Africa’s policy alignment in the FOCAC to a more balanced body its survival is not on the shoulders of China alone.
