As we all know, ties between China and the African continent are not a new development. They stretch back centuries and extend across ancient civilizations and dynasties. However, more recently, and especially during the past several decades, Sino-African engagement has widened extensively in scope, grown greatly in depth, and intensified considerably.

One of the strongest reflections of this deepened and increasingly vibrant interaction is the BRI. Since launching over a decade ago, the BRI has steadily expanded into one of the world’s most consequential initiatives and an important international public good. Its footprint on Africa, with almost the entire continent onboard, has already been massive, particularly in terms of trade and investment, job creation, transportation, and infrastructure, among other areas. Undeniably, it is transforming the continent – and for the better.

Here, it should be noted how the BRI has not only firmly positioned development as one of the central priorities on the global agenda, and is helping forge a new international landscape, it has also swung the doors wide open to exciting opportunities for African countries. As just one illustration, it has provided them with greater leverage and bargaining power, increased alternatives and confidence, and more balance and flexibility in their engagement with traditional donors and Western-led financial institutions, who historically have exercised disproportionate control, infringed on sovereignty, and relied on hubris, sermonizing, and paternalism.

What also distinguishes the BRI and makes it especially significant for Africa is that it directly responds to so many of the continent’s critical needs. For instance, cooperation with China is supporting Africa’s efforts to address its glaring infrastructure bottlenecks and funding deficits, in the process helping it drive forward on the path to long-term economic growth and sustainable development. Improving quality and quantity of infrastructure will not only make it easier for African countries to conduct more intraregional and international trade, it will help them dramatically lower business costs, substantively increase their competitiveness relative to other regions, and serve as a powerful catalyst for the continent’s socioeconomic transformation and diversification through industrialization, value addition, and sustainable and inclusive growth.

Adding to the above and going beyond the BRI directly, China has offered Africa, and the developing world, inspiration. The country’s history, like so much of that of Africa and the Global South, includes the dark chapter of foreign subjugation and humiliation at the hands of external powers. As countless examples from around the world unfortunately still testify, such a tragedy does not usually remain a relic of the past. Rather, it often makes a nation lose its pride, identity, and self-belief, with the toxic legacy reverberating across generations.

Yet, China has not only regained all these, it has even surpassed its former colonisers to become the world’s second largest economy and among the global leaders in many domains, ranging from AI, quantum computing, and biotech to EV’s, renewables, and space exploration. In this, China provides Africa considerable encouragement, demonstrating that a nation that was once poor, downtrodden, and subjugated can rise to not only stand, but soar as a superpower.

This particular point should not be overlooked or downplayed. Recall that almost 90 percent of the world’s population lives in the developing world. China has thus offered these peoples, long derided as “the wretched of the Earth”, an alternative place to look, for development, for inspiration, for encouragement, and resoundingly proved that there is more than one path – the narrow Western path – to progress or modernization.

Looking ahead, one emerging development teeming with possibilities is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a single market projected to grow to 1.7 billion people and $6.7 trillion in consumer and business spending by 2030. The AfCFTA may promote the growth of regional value chains, international exports, and intra-African trade, as well as offer vast opportunities for local and global businesses, including more Chinese enterprises, to enter and expand throughout a larger unified African market.

Furthermore, stronger systematic coordination and greater synergy between the AfCFTA and the BRI, especially in terms of channeling investments to catalyze the region’s industrialisation and manufacturing plans, as well as further enhancing trade connectivity, will help ensure mutual benefits and sustainable growth for both Africa and China.

A second area boasting boundless potential is climate and green energy. Despite being least responsible for the climate crisis and accounting for less than 4 percent of global emissions, Africa is most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of rising global temperatures. Additionally, although Africa's green energy potential is among the world’s largest, it has thus far failed to fully capitalize, with under 3 percent of renewable energy production and more than 600 million Africans still lacking access to power. Being a global leader in clean energy and the world's low-cost producer of most green technologies, China is well placed to deliver low-carbon solutions and support the continent’s energy access and transition, including through concessional loans, equity finance, and trade aimed at renewables and value-added green industries.

Finally, while China-Africa trade volume has reached record levels, it is imperative to address imbalances and better position the continent to fulfill its vast economic potential. Robust, strategic efforts are needed to further develop Africa's local industry and supply chains, enhance the continent’s manufacturing sector to produce high-quality, competitive, value-added products, add refining and processing capacity to the agricultural and extractive sectors, and promote partnerships between Chinese investors and African brands. 

A popular Eritrean proverb advises that, “hand in hand, we can bring down an elephant.” Similarly, in The Analects, Confucius is quoted as having declared that, “the man of virtue, while establishing himself and pursuing success, also works to establish others and enables them to succeed as well.” Looking ahead, may Africa-China relations continue to flourish and reach new heights, with the two proud peoples working hand in hand to overcome mutual challenges, achieve common goals, and enable one another to succeed.