Foreign news

Africa’s plug-in on China’s 14th Five-Year Plan

Published

5 years ago

November 4, 2020

Editor’s note: Stephen Ndegwa is a Nairobi-based communication expert, lecturer-scholar at the United States International University-Africa, author, and international affairs columnist. The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

With the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 during the plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in Beijing last week, China has once again stamped its vision and commitment toward building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Subsequently, China has entered the penultimate stage toward achieving developed country status through its overall 15-year roadmap toward modernization. Details of the blueprint are contained in a communiqué released on October 29 after the four-day meeting.

The major planks of the strategy encompass aspects like innovation and technology, industrialization, rural vitalization, real economy, a strong domestic market, environmental conservation through eco-friendly ways of work and life, and strengthening the country’s culture, education, talent, sports and health.

African economic experts are now identifying, suggesting and analyzing areas of mutuality and commonality between the continent’s development needs and China’s new path. Moreover, Africa now needs to rev up its pace of social and economic development in order to reap maximum benefits from China’s increased development momentum. As the biggest developing country, China’s unprecedented success has great lessons and inspiration for the largest developing region.

In an article, “Five-year plan holds promise for Africa”, senior associate fellow of the Nairobi-based China-Africa Center observed that the plenum “opens up opportunities for collaboration and cooperation with African countries in areas such as manufacturing, transportation, public health, agriculture and communication.”

Even in cases where there are no direct linkages between the two partners, the expert notes that the technological innovations touching on green energy can be part of the economic and technological cooperation, which would help to fill the continent’s energy gap. This can still be stretched further to show how the foregoing will help Africa achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

There are two levels which Africa can plug into China’s five-year program – bilateral and multilateral. Bilaterally, China has individualized partnerships with the majority of African countries, with each country on a different page depending on its current and unique development needs

Therefore, while some countries will give more weight to innovation to establish their fledgling digital economies, others might find rural vitalization as the best way to develop their agricultural based economies. Some countries have urgent infrastructural needs while others need to immediately plug into China’s established public health sector, especially now that the world is struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the real deal is in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the collective partnership vehicle comprising 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with both China and the African Union Commission.

China’s blueprint basically resonates with the partnership areas of the 20-year-old FOCAC. These include agriculture and food security, industrialization, investment and enterprise, infrastructure, trade, finance, energy and natural resources, climate change, poverty reduction, public health, education and, peace and security. Further to the foregoing, plugging into China’s fifth plenum can help Africa satisfy its unmet development objectives and priorities in these key sectors.

The recent establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement drives Sino-Africa relations even closer. The continent can benefit from China’s strategy of giving more impetus to growing internal demand as a way of reducing reliance on international trade.

Africa also needs to become bolder and venture into non-traditional areas of cooperation, mainly in culture and governance. Although there are some ongoing cultural exchanges, there is need to deepen and extend this to aspects like language and the arts with the aim of creating more mutual understanding and appreciation between the two partners.

Politically speaking, Africa’s history places it in an ideal position to adopt a modern socialist system with African characteristics. This entails developing the interdependence between the individual and the State to help both achieve their potential. This could be the missing link in the continent’s full development as the current liberal democratic system in most of the countries has led to massive wastage of time and resources.

The launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan has also given hope to Africa of continuity beyond COVID-19. China is one of the few countries whose economy is back on track amid the devastation caused by the pandemic in many other countries whose economies have either stagnated or regressed. China would be ready to share the strategies that it applied to gird it from external shocks and use the misfortune as a catalyst for restoration and growth.

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Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria

Published

1 month ago

September 28, 2025

The Gleamer

African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.

The discussions took center stage at the Big Push Against Malaria: Harnessing Africa’s Role high-level political engagement in Abuja, where Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda showcased new homegrown financing strategies aimed at reducing dependence on dwindling donor support.

Africa’s Heavy Burden

Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases. In 2023, the world recorded 263 million cases and nearly 600,000 deaths, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths occurring in Africa. Nigeria alone accounted for 26.6% of global cases and 31% of deaths, according to the World Malaria Report 2024. Children under five remain the most vulnerable, making up 76% of deaths.

Despite progress — with Nigeria cutting malaria deaths by more than half since 2000 through insecticide-treated nets, preventive treatments, and the rollout of the new R21 malaria vaccine — leaders warned that global targets are off-track. The World Health Organization’s technical strategy for malaria (2016–2030) has stalled since 2017, with Africa unlikely to meet its 2025 and 2030 milestones without urgent action.

Taxing for Health Futures

The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.

According to the House Chair on ATM, Hon. Linda Ogar, a bill is underway to restructure the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) into a multi-disease agency that will address HIV, TB, and malaria.

The new financing mechanism proposes:

Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items

Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions

A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue

“These resources will provide sustainable funding to strengthen health systems and accelerate malaria elimination,” Ogar said, stressing that Africa must stop relying solely on foreign donors. “We cannot continue to take two steps forward and five steps backward. Africa must begin to show the world that we are ready to solve our problems ourselves.”

Similar models are already being piloted in Ghana and Uganda, where levies on mobile money and telecoms are being redirected to finance health interventions. The Abuja meeting urged other African countries to adopt this approach as part of a continental framework for sustainable financing.

Leaders Call for Urgent Action

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, emphasized that while malaria is preventable and treatable, it still kills hundreds of thousands yearly due to funding shortfalls, climate change, insecticide resistance, and humanitarian crises.

“To truly defeat this disease, we must rethink, join forces, and mount a concerted ‘Big Push’. Funding gaps remain a major obstacle, and innovative domestic financing is the way forward,” Salako declared.

From the civil society front, grassroots representatives pledged to act as “foot soldiers”, demanding that communities have a seat at the decision-making table. The World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and other partners reaffirmed support but stressed the need for stronger political will and local ownership.

Private Sector and Global Support

Representing billionaire philanthropist Aliko Dangote, the Nigeria Malaria Council reiterated that private sector investment must complement government financing. Meanwhile, the Global Fund confirmed it has invested nearly $2 billion in Nigeria’s malaria response and committed an additional $500 million for 2024–2026, including support for local production of malaria drugs.

The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:

“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”

Financing Health Futures: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda Turn to Tobacco and Telecom Taxes in Big Push Against Malaria

Abuja, Nigeria – African leaders, parliamentarians, health experts, and development partners have renewed their commitment to ending malaria by 2030, with a bold call for domestic financing through innovative taxation on tobacco, alcohol, and telecom services to close critical funding gaps.

Africa’s Heavy Burden

Taxing for Health Futures

The Nigerian Parliament’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (ATM) announced plans to fund malaria elimination through “sin taxes” and telecom levies.

The new financing mechanism proposes:

Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other luxury items

Dedicated levies on telecom airtime and mobile money transactions

A percentage of the nation’s consolidated revenue

Leaders Call for Urgent Action

Private Sector and Global Support

The Gates Foundation’s Uche Anaowu noted that while progress has slowed, malaria remains beatable:

“Smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated. The question is — can malaria be next? I believe Africa has both the burden and the opportunity to lead the world in making that happen.”

The Big Push: From Talk to Action

Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.

With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.

“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”

Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda are pioneering a shift from donor dependence to domestic revenue mobilization via tobacco, alcohol, and telecom taxes — a model hailed as central to financing Africa’s health futures and ending malaria by 2030
Speakers acknowledged that Africa has hosted too many malaria meetings without concrete outcomes. This time, however, leaders insisted the Abuja gathering must mark a turning point — from dependency to self-reliance.

With Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda setting the pace on tax-based health financing, the continent now faces the challenge of replicating and scaling up these models.

“Now that Africa is at a critical point, the need for a Big Push against malaria cannot be overemphasized. If we align political will, innovative financing, and community engagement, we can end malaria within our lifetime.”

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