Stimulus for development

Almost a year since its adoption, the Dar es Salaam Consensus is still relevant as a guide for more productive China-Africa relations going forward

The 13th meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum, held last March in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, adopted the Consensus Among African and Chinese Think Tanks on Deepening Global Development Cooperation — a document which identified key and priority areas of cooperation between China and Africa.

The consensus, also known as the Africa-China Dar es Salaam Consensus, embraced the founding principles of China-Africa relations, which include respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual benefit, openness and common prosperity, among others. Underpinned by these principles, the relationship between the two parties has blossomed and become a model of South-South cooperation. The consensus endorsed China's Global Development Initiative, which is compatible with the African Union's Agenda 2063.The forum stressed the importance of pursuing people-centered development and promoting modernization processes in tandem with national priorities and cultures.

This is very important because African countries have endured decades of imposed development programs and models that yielded little in terms of driving development. The imposition of economic policies on African countries by the Bretton Woods institutions through the Structural Adjustment Programs was a violation of independence and sovereignty which has kept Africa underdeveloped and playing a peripheral role in the global economy.

As such, a modernization philosophy that emphasizes the agency and independence of each country is a more attractive proposition. With almost one-third of the people (467 million) in Africa living in extreme poverty, the Global Development Initiative can serve as a better alternative development model. China knows a great deal about eradicating poverty having lifted 800 million of its people out of abject poverty. The country is already Africa's most important development partner, with initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, trade (especially duty-free access to the Chinese market granted to Africa's least developed countries), investment and development finance playing a critical role in addressing economic development in the continent.

In 2024, trade between China and Africa reached $295 billion, up 4.8 percent from 2023, further cementing China's position as Africa's largest trading partner. It is important to note that trade between the two sides is not just the flow of imports and exports. It has a developmental character. Since December, China has implemented the zero-tariff policy for 33 least-developed countries in Africa. If the concerned countries are able to take advantage of this offer, Africa's trade deficit with China will further narrow down generating more jobs and revenue for African countries. The BRI — a global program aimed at connecting countries in Asia, Europe and Africa through infrastructure development — has helped to improve Africa's infrastructure across the energy, transport and communications sectors. Over 50 African countries and the AU have signed cooperation memorandums with China under the BRI framework. In 2023, African countries concluded deals worth over $21 billion under the BRI framework, including investments in roads, ports, railways and power plants. Access to sustainable funding for infrastructure is essential for the realization of the African Continental Free Trade Area. These projects are decided and implemented on principles of respect for sovereignty and win-win cooperation, as emphasized in the Dar es Salaam Consensus.

Moreover, one of the points raised in the consensus was the need to improve and expedite Africa's access to development finance at reasonable rates and without crippling conditions. China is leading by example in this regard, having availed over $13 billion to fund key development projects of their choice in African countries. At the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing in September, President Xi Jinping announced almost $51 billion in funding for Africa over the next three years in the form of investment, development assistance projects and credit. As such, it is up to African countries to make full use of this opportunity to advance African development.

China and Africa have long expressed solidarity in calling for the reform of the global economic governance institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. The Dar es Salaam Consensus added its voice to this call. The two parties can take advantage of South Africa's 2025 presidency of the G20 meeting to firmly place the reform of these key institutions on the global agenda.

Further, as part of the efforts to reform the international financial architecture, China and Africa should accelerate efforts to create an alternative international credit rating agency that will provide fair and objective risk analysis of developing countries. African countries have long suffered from the opaque and biased risk-profiling methods of Western credit rating agencies, which make access to credit prohibitively costly. The advent of the second Donald Trump administration in the United States has unleashed a sustained assault on multilateral institutions with the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Human Rights Council. Africa and China will have to work to maintain and protect multilateralism, as only through multilateral platforms can the world address some of the most urgent challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic and the deteriorating climate situation have demonstrated the indispensability of multilateral institutions. Further, with the US' nationalist approach to international security, China's Global Security Initiative that emphasizes the indivisibility of global security provides an opportunity for Africa, which is currently struggling with violent conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Sudan, to play a meaningful role in the global peace and security landscape. As such, almost a year since its adoption, the Dar es Salaam Consensus is still relevant and can act as a guide for more productive China-Africa relations going forward.

The author is director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.