China targets Africa for ‘green’ Silk Road route
From 4 to 6 September, Beijing is hosting the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Focac), the first major post-Covid event in the capital. More and more Chinese companies have developed partnerships and collaborated with governments and businesses on the continent. A response to the protectionist policies of Brussels and Washington, but there is also a ‘dumping’ risk for Africa.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - At a time of cuts in imports of ‘green’ products made in China to the West, from Europe to the United States, where the market is now so saturated that Washington and Brussels seem to be falling back on protectionist policies, Beijing is increasingly looking to Africa.
It is in this perspective that a major event will be held in the capital from 4 to 6 September and will feature President Xi Jinping and several heads of state and government from the continent.
Under the motto ‘Joining hands to promote modernisation’, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Focac) scheduled every three years represents the first major meeting between the dragon and the continent after the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic problems associated with it.
And it comes at a time of growing geopolitical rivalry and the revision of the plan linked to the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, a new ‘Silk Road’ with ‘green’ characteristics and scaled down from the initial mega-projects according to the slogan ‘small is beautiful’.
The ‘green’ Silk Road
Illustrating the event, Lin Jian, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasised that it would ‘open up new perspectives for China-Africa relations’. One of these areas, according to the Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, Wu Peng, will be ‘supporting green development’.
The increasingly close partnership between the two in the field of renewable energy has pushed the African continent itself towards a more sustainable development, and thus future, highlighting how a ‘South-South’ collaboration can better respond to global challenges.
Africa, one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, faces an urgent need to shift to a green and low-carbon economy. Moreover, the continent's dependence on agriculture, which is highly susceptible to climate fluctuations, increases its vulnerability.
China, with its vast experience and resources, is an ideal partner for the continent's green transition and development. A leader in the innovation, production and export of renewable energy products, Beijing is helping to provide clean, reliable and affordable energy to the regions that need it most.
As Africa exploits its natural resources and China shares its technological prowess, their collaboration is therefore more than mutually beneficial and essential for a sustainable future.
In recent years, under Focac and the Belt and Road Initiative, more and more Chinese companies have developed partnerships and collaborated with African governments and businesses to develop renewable energy projects, from hydropower to wind, solar and geothermal.
In north-east Kenya, a country where 87% of electricity comes from renewable sources, is the Garissa Solar Power Plant, which produces half of all solar energy.
After the Chinese-built plant went online, Kenya's solar power production increased from 7.44 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per month in 2021 to an average of 30 million kWh per month in 2023.
And again, the Nyabarongo II hydropower plant, located on the main course of the Nyabarongo River at the confluence of Rwanda's northern and southern provinces, is under construction and expected to be completed in 2027.
Four objectives have been outlined by the Beijing leadership, and will be reiterated by President Xi Jinping in his speech at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation: firstly, the construction of a China-Africa community with a shared future that must progress to a ‘higher level’; secondly, a strengthening of ‘mutually beneficial cooperation’ between the two realities; the third point concerns ‘strategic coordination’; finally, China-Africa people-to-people and cultural exchanges should further expand touching wider areas.
The shadow of ‘dumping'
The early September meeting in Beijing represents a new chapter in China-Africa relations, following the summit in the capital in 2006, the Johannesburg summit in 2015 and the Focac forum also in Beijing in 2018.
It is also the largest diplomatic event China is set to host in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders and the presence as ‘special guest’ of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
While many African countries - some of which are facing energy crises - are happy to open their doors to Beijing with its contribution in the transition to renewable energy, there is no shortage of critical elements.
Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, explains that China is also poised to reap huge benefits by opening up new markets and bringing in new buyers of ‘green’ and electrical products.
According to data from the International Energy Agency, Beijing is the world's largest producer of solar batteries and accounted for three-quarters of global investment in green technology production in 2023. It also produced more than half of the electric vehicles sold worldwide last year.
Its leadership in these areas has led to growing competition with the West. Hence the choice of the United States and the European Union to adopt protectionist policies, increasing tariffs on products from China.
Electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and essential minerals are in the crosshairs, with the aim of increasing production and creating new jobs on the domestic front.
‘We see Chinese products being increasingly restricted in the US and Europe and I think China will look for alternative markets in Africa,’ Cliff Mboya, an analyst at the Pretoria-based China Global South Project, told Voice of America (Voa).
The West is concerned about possible ‘dumping’ [exporting goods at much lower prices than domestically or elsewhere, or below cost] by China, which floods foreign markets to dispose of its global trade surplus.
According to Mboya there is a similar risk in the short term for African governments and nations. ‘We should also be able to negotiate and ensure,’ he says, ‘that there is no dumping of these products on the continent, because we need to create jobs for our youth and ensure the production of some essential goods on the continent as well.
Finally, in addition to green technology analysts and experts predict that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will also focus on areas such as agricultural modernisation and trade, information technology and connectivity, and education and training.
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13/01/2022 12:01
