Summit theme aligned with Agenda 2063 goals

Leaders of Africa and China are meeting in Beijing to map out the future of China-Africa cooperation. The continent has begun implementing the second 10-year plan of Agenda 2063 that envisages middle-income status for every African Union member state, which makes the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation more timely than any previous meeting.

The theme of the summit, "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future", is well aligned with the second phase of the AU Agenda 2063. Political and organizational leaders would find the summit extremely relevant for properly setting the stage for Africa's transformation in the next decade.

Africa and China need one another more than ever before. Trade and investment is central to the relationship. Africa needs to boost intra-Africa trade and it also needs to trade with the international community, which requires a massive amount of finance and expertise. In the absence of an efficient manufacturing sector and transportation networks, Africa's ambition to transit into middle income territory over the next 10 years appears far-fetched.

The theme of this year's FOCAC, therefore, is very important.

Africa is abundantly blessed with resources and also provides a huge market to its trading partners. In this context China, the second largest economy in the world, finds Africa a reliable trading partner. As President Xi Jinping said on March 25, 2013 during his first visit to Africa as president, "We both view the other's development as our own opportunity, and we both seek to promote mutual development and prosperity through closer cooperation." This is the right time to further translate the vision into action.

The trajectory that China has taken to lift more than 700 million people out of poverty, which was achieved in 2020, is full of lessons for Africa, as a population of similar proportion is languishing in poverty in Africa today. China not only alleviated poverty; it continues to work hard to capitalise on its gains by focusing on prosperity and high-quality development, including through rural revitalization with a focus on five key areas — industrial development, human capital, culture, ecological environment and local governance. There are huge lessons here for African nations, both on how to rise out of poverty and how to sustain the gains.

Chinese businesses are investing and reinvesting their wealth in Africa in a big way. They are expanding their manufacturing bases across the length and breadth of the continent, providing much-needed employment and transferring much-needed skills. What is more, Africa's transportation network is also expanding due to Chinese investments. Chinese funding within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and its investment in railways, road transportation and port development are transforming livelihoods in Africa, apart from creating the opportunity to adopt the technological know-how.

Trading among African countries stands at a low; available data puts the figure at 14 percent. Asian countries, including China, traded around 59 percent of their goods and services among themselves in 2022. The same year, 68 percent of all European exports were to trading partners on the same continent, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Who can be blamed for the state of affairs in Africa? There are myriad factors that are stumbling blocks to Africa's transformation.

Lack of clean energy, finance, technological know-how and the like could be termed the top challenges on the road to Africa's development. So far, Chinese support has helped bridge what was once an awning gap to a large extent. In a recent article, economic analyst Laurance Freeman summarized the visible impacts China has made in expanding critically needed infrastructure in Africa. According to him, China has contributed toward the "installation of over 25 gigawatts of electricity generation capacity, construction and upgrade of over 10,000 kilometers of railways, 100,000 km of highways, over 60,000 km of submarine cables, almost 1,000 bridges, 100 ports and over 100 health facilities and schools".

Growing cooperation with China in the spirit enshrined in the theme of this year's FOCAC Summit plays an important role.

With the expansion of manufacturing capacity and transport networks in Africa, there is a likelihood that the lives of Africans will be positively impacted by job creation and availability of basic supplies at local markets.

With the furthering of Africa-China cooperation, that will be boosted by the summit, Africa's ambition to alleviate poverty will become achievable.

The author is editor-in-chief of The Ethiopian Herald, a national newspaper in Ethiopia.