China-Africa cooperation has evolved over the past 24 years.
In 2000, when China and Africa held their first cooperation forum (FOCAC), a commodity boom was under way. China was the world’s biggest buyer of the mineral commodities it needed to fuel its economy. Its approach towards Africa was mostly one of extracting what it wanted.
The 2024 forum takes place under different circumstances, reflected in its theme Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future. China has diversified its engagement in Africa, focusing on sectors such as technology, health and green energy. This reflects a shift from traditional infrastructure projects to more sustainable and mutually beneficial cooperation.
We’ve published several articles, by various experts, which provide insights into these changes and new investments.
Investing in Africa
Lauren Johnston, an economist with expertise in China-Africa relations, reveals that, over the past decade, China’s investments in Africa have moved beyond oil and extractive commodities towards industrial production, job creation and investments that lead to exports.
In the 1990s and 2000s, China funded infrastructure in African countries in return for access to resources. China is also Africa’s biggest bilateral lender. In 2020, it held over US$73 billion of Africa’s public debt and nearly US$9 billion of its private debt.
But there’s now a shift, driven mainly by two factors:
African countries are struggling to keep up with mounting debt repayments
China’s domestic needs are changing.
In recent years, climate change and changing diets have put pressure on China’s domestic supply of food. China is also moving away from being an exporter of heavy-industry and energy-intensive manufactured goods. Its focus is more on growth areas, such as higher value-added agriculture and manufacturing.
Because of these factors, we’re now seeing Chinese investments that lead to various African exports, and productivity-enhancing agricultural and digital technology opportunities.
Read more: China’s Africa strategy is shifting from extraction to investment – driven from the industry-rich Hunan region
Another evolution is the growing presence of Chinese private security companies in Africa. As Beijing increases its investment in the continent, Chinese private security companies have found a profitable niche market: security services that guard Chinese executives and construction sites and secure Chinese vessels at sea against piracy.
Security expert Alessandro Arduino reveals how, as China becomes increasingly dependent on African resources, bursts of violence and terrorist expansion from the Sahel to Somalia are putting Chinese workers and investments in the cross-hairs.
He warns that African policymakers must look at how Chinese private security companies interact with local government security forces. There’s also an opportunity present: the proper integration of foreign private security services could benefit host governments, especially as security threats rise.
Read more: Chinese private security firms are growing their presence in Africa: why it matters
Collaboration that benefits African countries
Another area of interaction between China and countries in Africa relates to science and technology.
Science policy experts Swapan Kumar Patra and Mammo Muchie examined the number of research publications that involved authors from China and countries in Africa. They found an increase in both collaborative publications and patents between 1975 and 2017. For instance, in 2007 there were only 263 collaborative research papers; in 2017, there were 3,211 joint papers by Chinese and African researchers.
This shows that the collaborative relationship between China and some African countries is growing. The experts argue that, in the long run, this is great for African countries. China is the second largest producer of scientific research articles and patents in the world. African researchers could benefit enormously from working closely with their Chinese counterparts.
Read more: What patents and publications reveal about China-Africa science collaboration
One sector in which China has been a latecomer in Africa is the aviation industry. Gordon Pirie’s research tracked China’s involvement in African aviation and found that, even though Ethiopian Airlines started flying to China in November 1973, there were few other air links between Africa and China for 30 years.
By contrast, the involvement of former colonial powers – such as the British, Dutch and French – goes back to the 1920s. Over the last 20 years, Gulf states and their airlines – Emirates, Qatar and Etihad – have become major offshore hubs for a huge range of commercial flights serving Africa.
His research however has found that there’s recently been considerable Chinese activity directed at modernising, extending and building new airports in Africa. The grandest projects are located in resource-rich countries.
So, though none of China’s biggest three airlines (Air China, China Southern, China Eastern) are prominent in African skies, it’s on the ground that China has been flexing its aviation muscles in Africa.
Read more: China has taken a different route to involvement in African aviation
