The ninth edition of FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) is set to be held from the 4th to the 6th of September in Beijing, China. The summit’s opening ceremony is to be held on the 5th of September with the Chinese premier, President Xi Jinping expected to deliver a keynote opening speech.
This edition of the tri-annual summit follows up on the eighth FOCAC summit held in Dakar, Senegal in November 2021 which developed an action plan for strategic market access between Africa and China. FOCAC 2024 will focus on formulating a framework for navigating China’s evolving strategic partnership with the African continent in the post-COVID era. Beijing looks to leverage its position as a collaborative partner for Africa in a disruptive and chaotic global geo-political setting.
However, it may be argued that China is using the summit as a tool to solidify its position in the geo-political arms race with the West, and particularly, with the United States.
African heads of state eye bilateral meetings with China within the summit as avenues for seeking financial commitments on projects and initiatives, much to the displeasure of many independent observers and African citizens. These financial commitments have been criticized for contributing to high debt burdens and dependency for the African countries involved.
That said, the summit is an important tool in shaping the trajectory of Chinese foreign policy. The first FOCAC summit was held in 2006 when China opened up its economy to the international economic and financial system. China was eyeing partnerships for growth, and it has since developed to become the second-largest economy by size globally.
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How China benefits from collaborating with Africa.
- It grants China access to a huge pool of raw materials and resources for Chinese industry. Despite its waning influence in recent years, China still controls a huge chunk of the global manufacturing sector. Partnership with Africa allows China exclusive access to Africa’s vast reserves of raw materials for the manufacturing industry such as precious and rare earth metals, lumber, rubber, coal and other minerals.
- China gains a sphere of influence in the second-most populated continent in the world. Africa is home to the world’s fastest-growing population and is already home to 1.5 billion people. Coupled with its population of over 1.4 billion people, access to Africa gives China influence over a huge demographic of the global population.
- Cooperation with Africa gives China an upper hand against Western influence. China strives to overthrow the place of the United States as the global hegemon, in favour of becoming a Great Power with international influence. Collaboration with Africa gives China a strategic benefit, allowing it to be better poised in it ambition of becoming a global leader.
- Africa presents an avenue for economic growth, particularly for the Chinese population. Africa has a huge Chinese expatriate population, which is mostly involved in managing and overseeing the Chinese-led/funded projects within the continent. Cooperation with Africa has also opened avenues for Chinese investment in the continent, which has attracted Chinese citizens to settle and do business within Africa.
Why FOCAC is an appealing collaboration avenue for African countries.
- FOCAC gives reduced priority to the financial aid and conditionality model fronted by the West. FOCAC emphasizes partnership on long-term, sustainable development, exchanging conditionality with respect for sovereignty for its African partners.
- FOCAC takes an individualistic and bilateral approach to cooperation with Africa, hence bypassing the cracks associated with regional development cooperation within Africa. Individual African countries are allowed to set their terms of engagement with China, which gives them leeway to lobby for investment in development projects in domestic terms.
- China also emphasizes its status as a developing country, which demonstrates its willingness for mutual collaboration in African-led projects. This image helps China soften the imperialistic logic often associated with global powers, hence presenting itself as a benign partner in African affairs.
Criticisms and Drawbacks of FOCAC
- Despite its commitment to mutual development procedures, FOCAC still retains a strong donor-recipient dynamic. African countries lack robust objectives and strategies for collaboration with China, and have relegated themselves to the backseat to allow it to set, run and oversee the forum’s agenda. Consequently, this has also led to overdependence on Chinese aid, creating a debt crisis in many of the African countries involved. Nonetheless, China has also proven to be less accommodative to debt forgiveness and cancellation in comparison to Western financial aid institutions such as the IMF.
- The forum also lacks independent oversight from external actors. China maintains a heavy-handed control over proceedings, which culminate in closed-off meetings and agreements that are signed away from the public domain. Due to its shrouded nature, a lot of FOCAC’s outcomes are hard to quantify, analyze, monitor and improve.
- African cultural and linguistic expertise on China is underutilized in the forum’s transactions and proceedings. Many African students (about 60,000) travel to China annually to pursue further studies, giving them a great understanding of China’s culture and social-political environment. African governments have not leveraged the continental expertise in China and the human resources behind it to improve the continent’s engagement with China.
China is fixated and undeterred in its vision for the future, as is captured in its own Vision 2035. China aims to be a technologically advanced country, leading the world in industry and innovation and solidifying its position as a Great Power. China has reemphasized this in the 2035 Vision for China-Africa Cooperation, which is a key constituent of FOCAC.
On the other hand, Africa is seemingly happy just be allowed on the ride as it plays second fiddle to the Chinese grand plan for the future. If Africa is to gain from the collaboration with China, it too has to set its terms of engagement and clearly define its position in the cooperation arrangement.
More on China from Superficially Exaggerated.
A Beginner’s Guide to the Dispute in the South China Sea.
Read more on the FOCAC 2024 Summit.
FOCAC 2024: Elevating African Interests Beyond the Africa-China Summit.
Origin, Achievements, and Prospects of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
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