Closer cooperation. Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

China-Africa cooperation has been very helpful in terms of "giving the financial boost that Africa needs" when there are constraints in terms of the FDI flows from the Western countries, Nardos Bekele-Thomas, the Chief Executive Officer for the Africa Union Development Agency-New Partnerships for Africa's Development (AUDA-NEPAD) stressed on Saturday on the sidelines of a financial forum.

Following the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which concluded in Beijing on Friday, a forum co-hosted by the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI) and the African Union (AU) was held next day, with the theme of "Building Bridges: Cooperation for Growth between China and Africa Multilateral Financial Institutions."

Over the decades, partnerships between China and African multilateral financial institutions (AMFIs) have grown stronger, achieving fruitful cooperation in driving economic transformation across the African continent.

Nevertheless, the West has viewed cooperation between China and Africa through the lens of a cold war mentality. The Western media has portrayed the development financing provided by China to Africa as a "debt trap."

"This is not a reality. Some people decided to see the things in a different way, but it does not mean that is reality." Albert Muchanga, commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, responded to Western "debt trap" allegations during the forum. The reality on the ground is that there has been a substantive collaboration between Africa and China, and African countries and China are committed to moving in that collaboration to higher levels. That's what matters for the benefits of the people of Africa and the people of China, it's a win-win collaboration, Muchanga noted.

With regard to the truth of the debt issue in Africa, Bekele-Thomas explained that at the time when Africa was expanding in terms of economic growth, COVID-19 came, and then the Ukraine crisis which disrupted supply chains and created inflation, not only in Africa, but in the world.

As a strategic partner, China is coming out to help some Africa countries to lift them out of their debt crisis. And that's very helpful. Most importantly, building the economy and making it to be strong enough to withstand shocks is critical. So we're very happy and we're very proud that our path now is for China and Africa to come together and make out plan that is concrete with results, Bekele-Thomas told the Global Times.

A lot of Chinese investments have flowed into Africa, almost into every African country which has diplomatic relations with China. They are generating jobs, and promoting value addition, which is critical to the industrialization of Africa, Muchanga said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that China stands ready to work with Africa to implement 10 partnership actions to jointly advance modernization.

To implement the 10 partnership actions, the Chinese government will provide 360 billion yuan of financial support through the next three years, Xi said.

It means that the money is going to be used productively. And certainly, the flows that will come from China are going to be used by member states to increase the levels of investment in the economies, so that promote higher levels of inclusive growth and sustainable development across the African continent, Muchanga explained.

The vision is that China-Africa cooperation is going to grow with the dynamism, and it will continue moving forward, he added.

Global Times