Foreign news

FOCAC at 20 is great, and will be greater in the next 20 years

Published

4 years ago

October 13, 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.

October 10 marks one of the most significant dates in the growing Sino-Africa relations. It is the day 20 years ago that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was established at the first Ministerial Conference held in Beijing.

The FOCAC was formed at a time developing countries were seeking more collaboration through South-South cooperation. Indeed, this partnership has led to a paradigm shift that has seen developing countries becoming more assertive and confident in managing their own affairs.

Although the roots of Sino-Africa relations can be traced way back to the seventh century during the era of the ancient Silk Road, they have solidified in the last four decades as China launched its reform and opening up in earnest. Today, the FOCAC comprises 54 African countries, the African Union Commission, and the People’s Republic of China as partners.

The forum meets every three years. In addition to the 2000 founding event in Beijing and two other meetings held in the Chinese capital city in 2006, other meetings have been held in Ethiopia, Egypt, and South Africa. The latest event, the 7th FOCAC Ministerial Conference, was held in Beijing in September 2018.

The cooperation extends to areas such as trade, technology, diplomacy, media, agriculture, culture, and people-to-people exchanges. The FOCAC’s spirit of solidarity and cooperation is captured in the colors of its logo. The green color symbolizes peace and development, and the red indicates vitality and prosperity.

Contrary to the naysayers, Sino-Africa relations are mutually beneficial to both sides, and the notion of China pushing its partner to a debt trap is simply a figment of their imagination. It is a symbiotic relationship where China seeks resources for its growing consumption on one hand, and African countries earn funds to develop their infrastructures.

The Beijing Action Plan (2019-2021) took stock of the partnership between China and Africa in the preceding 18 years and went further to propose more and wide-ranging areas of cooperation, from economic and political sectors to tourism and environment.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the FOCAC that China will extend $60 billion to Africa in form of grants, loans, and special funds, with Chinese companies encouraged to make at least $10-billion investments in Africa by the end of 2021.

Clearly, those who see China’s exploitation of a hapless continent have deliberately failed to see the transformative nature of the partnership, one that has lived up to its mantra of win-win outcomes.

At a virtual meeting with African heads of state and government in June, President Xi reiterated the strong relationship between the two partners, noting that his country’s support during the coronavirus pandemic had left no doubt of its commitment to making it work.

The FOCAC has become entrenched and now encompasses various sub-forums. These include cooperation in specific areas like youth, health, media, poverty reduction, and development, law, local government, and academia.

So, what do the next 20 years look like for the FOCAC? The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will be a game-changer for Africa’s fortunes. The intra- and inter-continental connectivity that is emerging from this project augurs well for trade and economic growth of the continent.

The BRI is unfolding at the same time with the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

In an interview with Chinese news agency Xinhua, Gedion Jalata, a senior advisor to the UNDP South-South Cooperation, noted that China’s support to African countries both through the BRI framework as well as individual projects will boost inter-African economic integration, with China potentially playing the role of key facilitator for the broader goals of AfCFTA.

Basically, the FOCAC has become a global benchmark in multilateralism where all partners are in it for mutual benefit. It is expected that the next FOCAC summit in 2021 will usher in a new era informed by the challenges undergone due to the coronavirus pandemic.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

1 month ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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