FOCAC: China seeks to boost strategic ties with Africa

The Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has expressed his country’s readiness to expand its strategic relations with Africa, in a region where it has supported projects worth billions of dollars through loans. The minister spoke on Sunday at the opening of 7th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in […]

The Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has expressed his country’s readiness to expand its strategic relations with Africa, in a region where it has supported projects worth billions of dollars through loans.

The minister spoke on Sunday at the opening of 7th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China.

The 2018 summit, themed “Towards an even Stronger China-Africa Community with a shared Future,” begins on Monday.

FOCAC is a key platform for the collective dialogue and cooperation between China and African countries. Since the forum was launched in Beijing in 2000, China’s trade with Africa has overtaken that of the traditional partners, Europe and the United States.

President Xi Jinping will, on Monday, inaugurate the summit, which will also be attended by dozens of African leaders as well as representatives from international and regional organisations.

The Chinese leader is expected to announce a package worth billions of dollars in loans, aid and investments in different areas.

“We are confident that this year’s meeting would be monumental in deepening China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership”, Minister Wang Yi told the gathering of foreign and trade ministers from 53 African members of the FOCAC.

The last summit was held in December 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the Chinese President Xi Jinping announced $60 billion funding support for infrastructural development in Africa.

In Nigeria, critical infrastructure particularly the on-going projects in the railway and power sectors, are being funded within the framework of FOCAC.

“For this FOCAC summit, there are a number of projects that we are hoping the Chinese government will fund, in transport, ICT, railway and capacity building,” Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama told Daily Trust.

At the end of the two-day summit, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang to discuss infrastructure financing for strategic projects in Nigeria and the upgrading of Nigeria-China relations.

The President will also use the occasion of his audience with the Chinese leadership to assess the progress made so far in Chinese interventions in Nigeria’s key priority infrastructure projects, particularly on-going projects in the railway and power sectors, according to presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu.

The 7th Ministerial meeting of FOCAC was attended by 49 Foreign Ministers, 37 Trade Minsters and several business delegations from regional and international organizations.