All-weather China-Africa Community with a shared Future for the New Era
Lesolle Phalatsi
Africa’s First Citizens, all of unquestioned bona fides, Their Majesties, Presidents and Prime Ministers in their capacities as heads of states and or heads of governments, converged in Beijing for the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation from the 4th to the 6th September 2024. The theme of the Summit was “Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future”.
The bustling attendance of the 53 nations from the “Colourful Africa” meant one thing amongst a plethora of reasons, that no leader could bear the thought of missing in action, knowing full well that at this auspicious summit, the foundation will be laid for yet another round of astronomical strides in the history of development and modernisation of their mother land, Africa.
Fresh in the minds of all leaders and delegates were their beautiful African landscapes each uniquely adorned with the towering monumental edifices and network of roads and railway infrastructures that the previous FOCAC Summits had laid foundation for their successful implementation. I read a thoroughly researched and impeccably written article from the renowned Peking University packed with insightful, in-depth statistics and history of FOCAC, in the main and for a perspicacious and discerning mind, the Peking University article is a “rude reminder”.
It reminds Africans and Chinese of where their co-operation comes from, why was the cooperation fated, what value the co-operation has amassed for individual countries, regions and the continent at large.
The rude reminder also brought back feelings, not nostalgic but desolate flashbacks of condemnation by Western media, condemning Africa to remain “The Wretched of the Earth”. A popular Western magazine “The Economist”, published an article in the year 2000 titled “Hopeless Africa”, coincidentally the year 2000 was to become the year of the maiden FOCAC conference at the ministerial level.
Twenty-three years later, Africa has reduced its reliance on food imports whereby over the past decade, more than 300 cutting-edge technologies promoted by China have helped drive up local crop yields by 30 to 60 percent on average, benefiting over one million small-scale farmers. China has also assisted in building multiple industrial parks in Africa. The continent’s talent pool has improved significantly by training about 10,000 specialists per year through a vast network of vocational schools.
Similarly, “Since the initiation of FOCAC, Chinese enterprises have assisted Africa in building or upgrading over 10,000 km of railways, 100,000 km of highways, 1,000 bridges, and nearly 100 ports, laying the foundation for an era of fast modernisation on the continent”.
Even if according to a changed narrative of “The Economist”, Africa rose from being a dejected “Hopeless Africa” to “Africa Rising” (The Economist would later change narrative to Äfrica Rising only a decade or two) like a latter day Phoenix that rises from the ashes. It is time to guard against complacency and take heed from a profound “caption plaque” at the wall in a Communist Party of China Museum in Shanghai which reads, in part “As the old Chinese saying goes “never forget why you started, and your mission can be accomplished”. The message in that historic monument, a Museum of CPC that the Chinese people built to remind themselves of the gruelling journey of a people’s vanguard must be a constant reminder, a sobering and grounding call for all to never forget the founding, the sacrifices and the reason for the “Great March”.
Liu Hongwu, a professor and director of the African Studies Zhejiang Normal University makes a case that in the year 2000, at the time when the West labelled Africa a “Hopeless Africa”, China did not instigate co-operation with Africa because it considered itself better off. Instead, the label of a “developing country” hung around its neck like an albatross but it was guided by principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith.
A proud moment for a patriot, in a stellar fashion, the head of His Majesty’s Government the Right Honourable The Prime Minister of Lesotho, Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane led a distinguished delegation of ministers and high ranking officials of government bearing the bouquet of Lesotho’s aspirations and wishes, spanning a number of areas and sectors from: financing of new startups and business incubation, hydropower and clean energy generation projects, roads, building of bridges and government offices, Information Technology systems installation and upgrading, installation of systems to prevent and fight cyber-crimes, agricultural uptake in complete poultry and piggery value chain to improve food security and reduce dependence on imports – these include abattoirs, nursing and feeding infrastructure, etc.
The most astounding, noteworthy and commendable outcome of the Summit is the adopted and joint declaration “building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era and an action plan of the FOCAC for the next three years”.
Lesotho must also be proud to have chosen projects that are in their entirety in line and tandem with “The action plan, to be implemented in the next three years, covers the areas of mutual learning among civilisations, trade prosperity, industrial chain co-operation, connectivity, development co-operation, healthcare, rural revitalisation and people’s well-being, people-to-people exchanges, green development and common security”.
It was heartwarming and assuring to a progressive spirit to bear witness to a hearty proposition made by President Xi Jinping in his FOCAC summit opening speech “the China-Africa relationship is now at its best in history. With its future growth in mind, I propose that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic relations, and that the overall characterisation of China-Africa relations be elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.”
It would be apt to quote parts of President Xi’s opening speech at the summit to capture the
essence of China’s sentiment, brotherhood and solidarity towards African countries;
“To quote a Chinese poem, ‘True friends always feel close to each other, no matter the distance
between them’”.
“I have been to Africa 10 times and hosted many African leaders in China. All our meetings have
been cordial and heartwarming. They have reinforced my belief that the China-Africa
community with a shared future is built on a strong foundation, has been blessed with a good
start, and enjoys broad prospects. It sets a stellar example for building a community with a
shared future for mankind.”
“The China-Africa community with a shared future is deeply rooted in our traditional friendship.” He also opined that “since the mid-20th century, we have been fighting shoulder to shoulder against imperialism, colonialism, and hegemonism, and advancing hand in hand along the path of development, revitalisation, and modernisation. China-Africa friendship remains robust and is growing stronger through generations no matter how the world changes,”
These extracts which President Xi concluded his welcoming remarks with is a worthy epilogue for epoch marking Summit in Beijing; “We human beings have been dreaming of a community with a shared future, and modernisation is what it takes to turn our dream into reality. China and Africa have been, and remain, pioneers in building this community, and we will stay at the forefront in pursuing modernisation.
“I am confident that as long as the 2.8 billion-strong Chinese and African people are united for
this common goal, we will accomplish new and even greater feats together on the way toward
modernisation, spearhead the modernisation drive of the Global South, and make greater
contributions to a community with a shared future for mankind.”
China has always insisted on having the forum hosted alternately between China and African countries, we pray for more years of life that we may know and come to witness the forthcoming FOCAC Summits in Africa and China rotationally.
Indeed, for Africans to “advance modernisation” as envisioned and couched in the 2024 FOCAC theme and for Africa to march on the path to attain Agenda 2063, the spirit of the late President Kwame Nkrumah, father of Africans’ struggle for total emancipation, must be invoked.
His words; “Countrymen, the task ahead is great indeed and heavy is the responsibility; and yet it is a noble and glorious challenge – a challenge which calls for the courage to dream, the courage to believe, the courage to dare, the courage to do, the courage to envision, the courage to fight, the courage to work, the courage to achieve – to achieve the highest excellencies and the fullest greatness of man. Dare we ask for more in life?”; will manifest and shall come to pass.
