- At the meeting, Ruto is expected to pursue multi-million-dollar agreements with China, focusing on infrastructure and trade.
- The 2021 meeting was notable for setting concrete aims for increasing African imports to China.
Image: PCS
President William Ruto is among the heads of state attending the high-level Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit (FOCAC) in Beijing.
The summit, which will take place from September 4-6, 2024, will focus on improving the China-Africa partnership.
The gathering, which happens every three years, brings together 53 African countries and China to discuss important topics in the Africa-China relationship, including trade, investment, and development.
A CRITICAL JUNCTURE IN THE AFRICA-CHINA RELATIONSHIP
FOCAC 2024 is positioned to be a critical juncture in the Africa-China relationship, with the potential to drive significant advancements in trade, industrial development, and sustainable cooperation.
The theme for this year’s meeting is "Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future."
At the meeting, Ruto is expected to pursue multi-million-dollar agreements with China, focusing on infrastructure and trade.
“China has proven to be a true development partner, significantly revamping our infrastructure. We look forward to leveraging these ties to accelerate our transformation,” Ruto said when he landed in Beijing.
FOCAC has emerged as a pivotal platform in Africa-China relations, driving not just economic collaboration but also influencing Africa’s engagement with other global powers.
HOW DOES THE FOCAC PROCESS WORK?
Each FOCAC meeting follows on the previous one, with feedback on the implementation of the preceding agenda influencing the next.
"The triennial FOCAC gatherings are the public culmination of an ongoing process of negotiating and monitoring the Africa-China relationship," China-Global South Project Managing Editor Cobus van Staden said
"It emphasizes collaborative decision-making and building interdependence between the continent and China."
Two groups of African negotiators represent the continent: one group in Addis Ababa, working closely with the African Union, and the African diplomatic community in Beijing, who coordinate with Chinese counterparts.
"While FOCAC began with a narrow scope that mostly dealt with the economic facet of the relationship, successive waves of negotiations between African diplomats and their Chinese counterparts have resulted in a slow expansion of the platform’s purview to include more African priorities," Staden said.
"For example, diplomatic efforts from the African side have led to a stronger focus on Chinese participation in African peace and security efforts since 2012."
In 2021, the first semi-virtual FOCAC summit was held due to China’s zero-COVID policy.
Health and inter-parliamentary diplomacy become focus areas. The meeting marked a step away from the announcement of a single funding package in favour of more diffuse announcements, which amounted to US$40 billion spread over different categories.
The 2021 meeting was notable for setting concrete aims for increasing African imports to China. In particular, China set the goal of increasing its imports from the continent to $300 billion.
During the 2018 meeting in Beijing, there was the formal integration of FOCAC into the Belt and Road Initiative. Agricultural modernisation became a key area of cooperation. A funding of $60 billion was announced.
AFRICAN PRIORITIES FOR FOCAC 2024
African priorities for FOCAC 2024 include agricultural trade and industrialisation, according to China-Global South Project, a podcast dedicated to exploring every facet of China's engagement in Africa.
Agricultural trade
Staden noted that while Africa-China trade has increased over the last year, the potential for future increases in agricultural trade remains significant.
“The continent’s potential for agricultural production remains largely untapped despite a few countries (notably South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya) having found thriving markets in China,” the China-Global South Project Managing Editor said.
Staden added that China has been diversifying its agricultural supply chains to lessen its dependence on the U.S. agribusiness sector.
“This has triggered spikes in imports from countries like Brazil, but further diversification would aid in increasing Chinese food security while meeting the ambitions of African producers.”
Staden further says the shifts have, however, so far not resulted in sharp increases in Africa-China trade in farming commodities, suggesting that the next summit is likely to focus on intermediate steps to close the gap.
The gaps include agritech cooperation, diversification, climate resilience, and navigating Chinese regulation and markets.
Industrialisation
According to Staden, "within the Africa-China relationship, boosting African industrialisation is emerging as an important shared priority."
He says Africa has been pressuring investment partners to shift from exporting raw minerals to establishing more refining and processing operations in African countries.
"This strategy has been particularly successful in Africa’s interactions with Chinese partners compared to other foreign investors. For example, Zimbabwe’s success in compelling Chinese companies to do basic lithium refining within the country has proven to be one of the most significant shifts in the Africa-China mining sector since the last FOCAC summit."
Staden further opines that African countries will no doubt be intent on replicating that success in order to generate more employment. However, certain caveats remain:
They include electricity, product choice and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) costs.
Training
According to Staden, people-to-people exchange has always formed a key space for Africa-China cooperation and is a perennial FOCAC category.
"Before the pandemic, China rivalled France as the main destination for African students. However, academic and vocational training largely collapsed due to China’s zero-COVID measures, which made it impossible for African students to access Chinese training."
Staden says FOCAC will be an important litmus test for the future of this kind of exchange.
"There are signs that this year’s FOCAC will see the announcement of measures to boost educational exchange to its pre-pandemic levels and possibly beyond."
However, much work remains on the African side to demand training that will boost development through technology transfer and the employment pipeline.
Kenya expects to reach agreements on infrastructure development, such as the construction of rural roads, the Nairobi Intelligent Transportation System, and the Bosto Dam Water Supply Project.
Discussions will also centre on extending and completing phases 2B and 2C of the Standard Gauge Railway, dualing the Nairobi Northern Bypass, and other critical infrastructure projects.