The Eighth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Dakar adopted the Dakar Action Plan 2022-2024, aimed at enhancing China-Africa cooperation across various sectors.
The conference focused on several key issues, including improving trade ties and market access, encouraging Chinese investment in Africa, supporting major infrastructure projects, promoting sustainable practices and climate initiatives, strengthening health systems and responses, fostering mutual understanding through cultural exchanges, advancing agricultural technology and practices, enhancing skills and education through training programmes, and collaborating on security and conflict resolution.
It also recommended strengthening high-level exchanges and dialogues between China and African nations.
A closer look at the impact of the nine programmes announced at the Eighth Ministerial Conference in Dakar by Chinese President Xi Jinping reveals that they have significantly contributed to the continent’s development and prosperity.
Senegal, which co-chaired the conference, released a report indicating that the framework’s contributions have notably transformed Africa’s economy and society over the three years leading up to 2024.
“On trade, the volume of China-Africa trade increased from 120 billion USD in 2018 to 282 billion USD in 2022, and it is expected to reach the 300 billion USD mark by 2025,” confirmed Senegal’s Foreign Minister Yassine Fall.
She made this statement while China pledged to enhance Africa’s export capacity and facilitate inspection and quarantine measures for African products exported to China in order to improve the balance of trade.
Consequently, the mechanism for the admission of African products to China and the application of a 98% tariff exemption for African countries classified as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is being implemented.
President Xi Jinping’s announcement to raise this exemption rate to 100% presents significant opportunities for the continent.
The prioritisation of agriculture and poverty reduction in the China-Africa development agenda was strengthened with the Second China-Africa Cooperation Forum on Agriculture, held in 2023 in Hainan. This was followed by the adoption of the African Agriculture Development Plan, aimed at contributing to the modernisation of African agriculture.
The plan also seeks to create joint ventures between the African and Chinese private sectors to establish high-value-added processing industries in Africa.
In the industrial sector, the launch of the African Industrialization Support Initiative is particularly noteworthy, especially in conjunction with the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This initiative was further enhanced by the establishment of a special fund amounting to $10 billion, dedicated to assisting African financial institutions in financing African SMEs.
This momentum will be bolstered by the implementation of 30 infrastructure interconnection projects in Africa, which will be undertaken as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
In the health sector, China’s construction of the Africa Centre for Disease Prevention and Management (Africa CDC) in January 2023 represents a significant achievement. The newly inaugurated Reference Laboratory, funded by China, aims to improve disease diagnosis, outbreak response, and surveillance capabilities throughout the continent.
Similarly, a technical partnership has been formed with the UN and Beijing to develop a local pharmaceutical industry in Africa through co-investments from the Chinese and African private sectors, which promises a positive future.
Additionally, under the framework of FOCAC, a seminar was held involving African leaders and Chinese financial institutions, including EXIMBANK, the China Development Bank (CDB), the Bank of China, ICBC, and the Bank of Agriculture.
Facilitated by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, this meeting provided African participants with a clearer understanding of the issues surrounding financing for Africa’s development, covering concessional loans, non-concessional loans, commercial loans, and grants.
In regard to sustainable development, particularly in the context of the energy transition and the fight against climate change, the Dakar Declaration on China-Africa Cooperation has established a foundation for addressing the specific vulnerabilities of certain countries to climate impacts.
This has led to the identification of development projects that utilise advanced Chinese technologies to assist in disaster prevention, safeguard marine resources, combat illegal fishing, enhance coastal protection, and promote renewable energy.
Furthermore, China continues to play a significant role in the critical area of peace and security in Africa. It is the second-largest contributor in terms of funding and provides substantial support to the African Union’s Peace and Security Architecture, based on a steadfast commitment to the principle of “African solutions to African problems.”
Moreover, discussions have also focused on establishing an Academy for Peacekeeping and the Fight against Terrorism and Cybercrime in Africa, supported by China, which aims to strengthen the capabilities of African armed forces.
In this context, the United Nations Trust Fund for Peace and Development, established in 2016 at China’s initiative, has pledged to contribute $200 million over the next ten years. This initiative could be more closely aligned with African priorities in areas such as peacekeeping operations, counterterrorism, and peacebuilding in post-conflict situations.
The tangible outcomes of this fund will undoubtedly be significantly enhanced by the “Ten Partnership Actions for Modernisation” that China has approved for implementation as part of the new action plan.
These actions will be bolstered by the Chinese government’s financial support of 360 billion yuan over the next three years, which includes an investment of 70 billion yuan from Chinese companies.
