Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, in conversation with Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema (Beijing, September 2, 2024)
It is the largest diplomatic event in China since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic: the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the central meeting for shaping relations between China and the states of the African continent, which begins this Wednesday in Beijing. The meeting, which has been held every three years since 2000 – alternating between China and an African state – is taking place for the ninth time overall and the fourth time in summit format. Accordingly, the presence of a large number of African heads of state and government is expected. Delegations from almost all 55 states on the continent have announced their attendance. Only Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) cannot attend because it maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Also present will be the Chair of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
In terms of content, this year’s FOCAC will initially address economic issues in addition to the general expansion of cooperation. According to reports, Beijing is aiming for a strong shift towards energy production from renewable resources. There are several reasons for this – in addition to climate policy considerations. For a long time, the People’s Republic relied on building large conventional power plants in the countries of the global south – including on the African continent – which provided urgently needed energy but also cost a lot of money. The necessary loans were usually provided by Chinese banks. Now, on the one hand, a number of African states have accumulated high levels of debt, and on the other hand, some Chinese banks that financed expensive projects in Africa – such as the Export-Import Bank – are heavily involved in China in order to stimulate the economy there. The volume of Chinese loans for projects in Africa has been declining significantly for years.
The focus on renewable energy sources should offer advantages to all those involved. On the one hand, energy sources such as solar and wind are widely available on the African continent. As is well known, this is also driving Western countries such as Germany to promote the generation of energy from renewable resources there – mostly to produce “green hydrogen” for supply in Europe. On the other hand, China not only has the necessary technologies. It will probably also have more capacity available in the future than expected, as the West is increasingly boycotting its products. This means that Africa’s importance as a sales market for “green” technologies is growing for the People’s Republic.
The China-Africa summit is also overshadowed and shaped by the rapidly increasing economic and political attacks from the West on the People’s Republic. The more Beijing is excluded and attacked from North America and Europe, the more important its relations with the “rest” of the world – the global South – become, not only economically but also politically. China sees itself as part of this as a country that was once bloodily plundered by the colonial powers and consequently bitterly impoverished and which – like all former colonies – has to fight for a certain level of prosperity. In view of the press from the West, the consolidation of South-South cooperation is now also of great strategic importance.
With this in mind, China’s President Xi Jinping has already received a whole series of African heads of state for individual meetings since the beginning of the week. Xi spoke with the presidents of Nigeria, Togo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Kenya, the Comoros and the Seychelles, among others. At a meeting with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, both sides formally further enhanced bilateral relations between their countries. Xi also received Mali’s President Assimi Goïta and the Prime Ministers of Burkina Faso and Niger, Apollinaire Kyélem de Tambèla and Ali Lamine Zeine. Burkinabe Head of State Ibrahim Traoré cancelled his trip at short notice because of the terrorist attack in Barsalogho, a good 150 kilometers north of the capital Ouagadougou. More than 200, possibly even more than 400 people were killed in the attack on August 24.
