China-Africa investment cooperation promotes Africa's industrialization

BEIJING -- Extensive investments by Chinese enterprises in Africa are driving the continent's industrialization, according to a report released Friday by the China-Africa Business Council (CABC).

"Through market-oriented investment, infrastructure investment and investment in new fields, Chinese enterprises are improving Africa's industrial system, promoting the progress of Africa's industrialization and upgrading its quality," stated the report titled "China-Africa Investment Cooperation: A New Impetus to Africa's Industrialization."

The report, an outcome of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024), has been released annually since its inaugural edition in 2021. The 2024 report was published ahead of the upcoming FOCAC summit, scheduled to take place in Beijing from Sept. 4 to 6.

According to the CABC, the report aims to promote pragmatic China-Africa economic and trade cooperation by focusing on Africa's realities and economic diversification, and serve as a platform to highlight the fruitful outcomes and potential of China-Africa cooperation.

In his opening remarks at Friday's report launch, Wang Xiaoyong, executive chairman of the CABC, described FOCAC as a "valuable asset" for both China and Africa.

"We believe that over the next three years, driven by policies from both Chinese and African governments and supported by diplomatic, commercial and financial sectors, China-Africa economic, trade and investment cooperation will contribute to Africa's modernization," Wang said.

DIVERSIFIED CHINESE INVESTMENT IN AFRICA

"China is the largest developing country investing in Africa, and China-Africa investment cooperation has been growing steadily," the report stated.

China is investing in increasingly diverse projects in Africa, gradually expanding from traditional sectors such as construction, mining, electrical power and engineering into a wider range of areas. These include not only traditional areas such as manufacturing, technology, wholesale and retail, agriculture and real estate, but also emerging fields such as the digital economy, green development, aerospace and aviation, and financial services, according to the report.

"This diversified investment pattern has helped Africa to achieve economic diversification and improve the resilience and competitiveness of its economies and has also provided Chinese enterprises with more investment options and opportunities," the report added.

Chinese investment in Africa is also becoming increasingly diversified in terms of investor profiles. At present, more than 70 percent of the enterprises investing in Africa are private enterprises, and private enterprises have become the new driving force of China's investment in Africa, the report noted, citing data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

"The participation of private enterprises not only brings more capital and technical support but also more flexible and efficient business models and management experience, which helps to enhance the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises in the African market and promote the extensive development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation," the report stated.

MOC data show that as of the end of 2023, China's direct investment stock in Africa exceeded 40 billion U.S. dollars, making it one of Africa's major sources of foreign investment.

Over the past three years, Chinese firms have invested in and developed economic and trade cooperation zones in Africa, spanning sectors such as agriculture, processing and manufacturing, trade logistics and other industries. These zones have attracted over 1,000 companies and boosted Africa's tax revenues and foreign exchange earnings from exports, China's assistant Minister of Commerce Tang Wenhong, said earlier this week, noting that Chinese companies have also created more than 1.1 million local jobs during the period.

CHINA'S EXPERTISE DRIVES AFRICA'S INDUSTRIAL UPGRADES

China's experience in cutting-edge industrial development can meet the urgent needs of African countries for industrial development and upgrading their industrial structures, the report stated, noting that the overall industrial structure has not changed significantly in Africa after many years of development.

At the early stage of the industrialization process, some countries in Africa relied on the abundance of their natural resources to achieve initial industrial development and had certain advantages in the upstream of the industrial chain. However, this type of economic model can lead to the formation of a monolithic economic structure in a country that has a high degree of economic vulnerability, the report noted.

"As a result, there is significant room for development and upgrading in the downstream links of the industrial chain and an extremely urgent need for upgrading the industrial structure at the macro level," the report stated.

It added that China's strong competitive industries offer African countries opportunities for technological advancement and industrial upgrading, and this support can help cultivate independent productive capacities and elevate their position in the global industrial chain.

An example is the industrial park model that China has successfully introduced to Africa. Since the 1990s, Chinese enterprises have actively invested in, developed and operated numerous industrial parks across the continent, according to the report.

It noted that Chinese investment in infrastructure strengthens Africa's foundations for industrialization and development, the market-oriented investment improves local industrialization systems, while investing in new fields promotes Africa's industrial transformation, upgrading and efficiency.

A PROMISING FUTURE OF CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION

According to Mwangi Wachira, former economist at the World Bank and advisor to the Government of Kenya, China has had a stellar record supporting the creation of the nodes and links of an integrated African market through the various ports, railways and roads it built in Africa as well as the Chinese-aided Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the African Union (AU) headquarters.

Chinese manufacturers catering to African consumers are thriving, producing a range of goods from cement, plastics and pharmaceuticals to cosmetics, cell phones and electric cars for an expanding African middle class, Wachira wrote in the CABC report.

"This effort needs to be expanded to meet AU's Agenda 2063 call for industrial development, especially in manufacturing, to increase the value-added of Africa's resources, improve levels of employment, and raise people's income," Wachira added.

The economist also highlighted China's initiatives to host Africa-focused expos, which spotlight trade and opportunities for both Chinese and African producers and traders. He noted that the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE), held biennially in Hunan Province since 2019, is yielding positive results and is a tangible outcome of the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit.

The report concluded that the CABC will encourage more Chinese enterprises across various sectors to continue investing in Africa's infrastructure development and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as industry, agriculture, healthcare, transportation and logistics, new energy and e-commerce.

The CABC has also called on the governments of China and Africa to support cooperation in the financial sector by encouraging local currency settlements in trade and investment, creating a favorable policy environment for local currency settlements, and supporting RMB clearing business in Africa.