China-Africa relationship

Page 27, Nov 30, 2009
By Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Back from Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt

THE just ended Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) in the Egyptian tourist resort city, Sharm El-Sheikh, was described by some of the participants as “a stimulant that will cement the existing relationship between China and African countries”.
They were not far from right since proposals made by the Chinese Prime Minister, Mr Wen Jiabao, which were adopted by the forum will go a long way to enhance the partnership between China, an emerging economic superpower, and African countries.
FOCAC is one of the three-high level meetings established by the Chinese and African leaders at their inaugural summit at the Chinese capital, Beijing, in 2000 to enhance co-operation between the two sides to ensure development for their people in a win-win situation.
At the last FOCAC Summit in 2006, attended by 48 out of 53 members of the African Union (AU), China and African countries adopted a number of resolutions which proclaimed the establishment of a new type of partnership.
Priority was placed on different areas of the economy such as agriculture, infrastructure, industry, fishing, information technology, public health and personnel training to draw on each other's strengths for their mutual benefit.
At that summit, China and Africa pledged to increase their trade to volumes of about US$100 billion by 2010 with the then Chinese President, Mr Hu Jiabao, announcing a package of aid and assistance to Africa, including US$3 billion of preferential loans and the exemption of debt owed by some African countries.
The Sharm El-Sheikh summit, held from November 8 to 9, 2009 on the theme “Deepening the new type of China-Africa partnership for sustainable development”, aimed at the overall review of the implementation of various cooperative agreements since the Beijing Summit and charting the course for the development of China-Africa relations. It was jointly chaired by the Chinese Prime Minister, Mr Wen Jiabao and the Egyptian President, Mr Hosny Mubarak.
It was attended by 49 member countries of the African Union with Ghana, which included the Foreign Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, and some senior officials from the ministry, being led by the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama.
According to Premier Jiabao, significant achievements had been made since the 2006 summit with China-Africa trade exceeding the 2010 target of US$100 billion last year while the number of African countries trading with China grew to 53.
Again, nearly 1,600 Chinese enterprises have started businesses in African countries with a direct stock of US$7.8 billion while project contracting and labour services cooperation between the two sides have been expanding with financial cooperation gaining momentum.
China's assistance to Africa, despite the impact of the international financial crisis and many difficulties it faces at home, has also been doubled with a plan to cancel 168 debts owed by 33 African countries nearing completion.
So far, exchanges between China and Africa have grown from strength to strength. By the end of the year, China is expected to have trained 15,000 people from African countries in different professions.
To show how it cherishes its relationship with Africa, China announced eight new measures to assist African countries during the just-ended fourth FOCAC meeting in Egypt.
First, China proposed to establish a China-Africa partnership in addressing climate change under which 100 clean energy projects covering solar power, biogas and small hydro-power would be embarked on.
Second, China has the given assurance that it will enhance its cooperation with Africa in science and technology by launching China-Africa science and technology partnership under which 100 joint demonstration projects on scientific and technological research would be carried out.
China will also provide US$10 billion in concessional loans to African countries and support Chinese financial institutions in setting up a US$ 1billion special loan for small and medium-sized African businesses.
It will also open up its market to African products by phasing in zero tariff treatment to 95 per cent starting with 50 per cent of products within 2010 while in the agricultural sector a number of measures including the training of 2,000 agricultural technology personnel would be done to strengthen Africa's ability to ensure food security.
In the health sector, China also proposed during the forum to provide medical equipment and anti-malaria materials to the 30 hospitals and 30 malaria prevention and treatment centres already built by China, and train 3,000 doctors and nurses in Africa.
A number of measures including the building of 50 China-Africa friendship schools and the training of 1,500 school principals and teachers in Africa by 2012, have also been proposed in the education sector, while the number of Chinese government scholarships to African students will be increased to 5,500.
The Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, was right when he stated in his address to the forum that “as long as China and Africa go hand in hand with the enterprising spirit and cooperate on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, we will seize opportunities and overcome challenges to take the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership to a new level, and make China-Africa friendship and cooperation even more fruitful”.
The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, who led Ghana's delegation to the summit, rightly indicated in his address at the forum that since its inception in 2002, FOCAC had provided a veritable channel for the incremental enhancement of Sino-African relationship, adding that the architects of the strategic partnership were motivated by the lessons of history, the realities of today and legitimate aspirations of the millions of people of China and Africa.
He noted that in spite of the difficulties that had characterised the global economic and financial environment, China had shared the virtues of true partnership and was well-placed to deepen this new strategic engagement.
“China is indeed a true friend of Africa,” he said and noted that China's post-FOCAC interventions in Ghana's socio-economic development had been remarkable and visible.
China’s cooperation with its African counterparts is a clear example of south-south co-operation that had been drummed home since time immemorial. The success of FOCAL will, therefore, clear the way for developing countries to look up to themselves for their economic survival rather than looking up to the west.
It is the hope of this writer that FOCAC will not be a nine-day wonder but grow to become a force in the international development agenda that would enable most African countries to rub shoulders with countries anywhere on the globe.