African Experts Hail Xi Jinping’s Blueprint for a ‘New Era for Africa’

Concluding his much-lauded visit to Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping has significantly upgraded the China-Africa relationship to a “comprehensive, strategic relationship” and laid out the beginning of a comprehensive strategy for African industrialization. Observers in the White House Africa office cannot be happy with the whirlwind tour the Chinese President has made to Africa, his second as President. In his speech to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on December 4, Xi underlined the importance of poverty reduction as fundamental. “Poverty is the root cause of chaos,” he said. “And development holds the key to resolving all problems.” He noted that the present situation opened up tremendous possibilities for development, but also dangers to be confronted, including terrorism, environmental degradation, and hegemonism.

The visit has created a tremendous sense of optimism among African experts. “China’s strategies of development and cooperation have helped the [african] continent to create fairly rapid, visible, and significant economic and social transformation,” said Professor Gerishon Ikiara, an associate director at Nairobi University’s Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies in Kenya. “Twenty years ago, China’s industrial capacity cooperation with Africa hardly featured in international discussions. However, this situation has radically changed with the African countries now regarding China as the most suitable partner in their national industrialization and other development programs,” Ikiara said.

“Africa’s manufacturing capacity failed to obtain meaningful development during the past decades,” said Fay Chung, an African scholar of Chinese descendant in Zimbabwe, “but it now provides huge opportunities for industrial cooperation between the two sides as well as enough space for further development.”

When the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was first established in 2000, the trade volume between China and Africa stood at 10 billion dollars. Now China has become the continent’s largest trading partner, with two-way trade volume expected to reach 300 billion dollars in 2015, according to the Ministry of Commerce of China. But the orientation now is clearly refocused on infrastructure, particularly transportation and “capacity building.” China will train 200,000 Africans as qualified technical personnel in Africa, and will give technical training to 40,000 Africans brought to China to train.

While President Xi and more recently, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, have underlined the need to create a strong basis for Africa’s industrialization, Chinese investment will also be aimed at increasing agricultural production and productivity, focusing on large-scale farming, grain storage and processing, and animal husbandry. China will start agricultural projects in 100 African villages, and will be sending 30 teams of Chinese agricultural experts to help with the programs.

To enhance the cultural exchanges—one of the five important “pillars” outlined by the Chinese President as the basis of the enhanced relationship—China will build five cultural centers, introduce satellite broadcasts to villages, and bring 900 African scholars to China. It will also increase direct flights between China and African cities to enhance cultural exchanges and tourism.