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Press Release: Fostering Prosperity: Boosting & Diversifying Africa’s Exports to China

The African Union Permanent Mission to China and Development Reimagined (DR) organised a roundtable discussion on the theme “Fostering Prosperity: Boosting & Diversifying Africa’s Exports to China” on June 25, 2024, at the African Union’s Permanent Mission in Beijing. This hybrid event aimed to create a platform for discussions and reflections on strategic and practical solutions to sustainably increase the value and volume of Africa-China trade, supporting Africa’s vision to become “the next manufacturing hub of the world.”

Event Background:

The General Administration of Customs of China recently released trade data on Africa-China interactions, highlighting significant growth. In 2022, the total trade volume reached US$282 billion, an 11% increase from the previous year. However, the trade imbalance remains a concern, with Africa’s exports to China dropping by 6.7% to US$109 billion, while Chinese exports to Africa increased by 7.5% to US$173 billion.

In response to this growing imbalance, African governments have encouraged China to open up its market to African goods. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 8 addressed critical issues and developed the 2035 Vision for China-Africa Cooperation. This roundtable explored how Chinese trade engagement can align with Africa’s goals, enhancing its manufacturing sector and reducing the trade imbalance.

Event Objectives:

    1. Facilitate and enhance collaboration between Africa and China within the framework of the 2035 Vision for China-Africa Cooperation and FOCAC more broadly.
    2. Developing mutually beneficial plans to enhance Africa’s agro-processing sector to produce competitive, value-added products and the capacity to meet China’s import demand, as well as identify investment opportunities for Chinese partners.
    3. Identify ways to enhance trade finance to create better China-Africa business partnerships and boost Africa-China trade.
    4. Define a strategy to implement a process to recognise African GIs in China and strategically leverage GIs to increase the value of African exports to China.
    5. Develop and implement targeted measures aimed at achieving the goal of attaining US$300 billion worth of imports by China from Africa by the year 2024 and future Chinese import goals.

Invited Stakeholders:

The roundtable included African Ambassadors and diplomats in China, the African Union, the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat alongside Chinese stakeholders from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), CAD-Fund (China Africa Development Fund), the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC), and country-level state-owned and private enterprises.

The hybrid event was held under Chatham House Rules, with simultaneous interpretation into English and French. A summary report will be shared with participants following the event.

For further inquiries, please contact:

Rosie Wigmore

Programme Manager, Africa Reimagined

rosiewigmore@dvelopmentreimagined.com

Photo highlights from the event (below)

24th June, 2024

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Sena Voncujovi is a research and policy analyst at Development Reimagined. Voncujovi specializes in global health issues, Japan-Africa relations, and China-Africa relations. He served as the Editor-in-chief of Peking University’s Africa Think Tank (PATT) during his master’s in International Relations & Politics as a Yenching Scholar. Voncujovi previously advised the Ghanaian government for the 2019 TICAD 7 Conference held in Yokohama. He is the co-founder of Jaspora, Tokyo’s largest community of African diasporan diplomats, changemakers, professionals, students, and business people.

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Yike Fu is a Policy Analyst and has been responsible for leading numerous areas of work, including on debt analysis in Africa and beyond, and China-Africa trade and investment logistics and analysis. She is the co-author of “African Debt Guide”, in which she challenged the narrative that Africa is in the midst of a new debt crisis by analysing data back to the 1970s and adopting new metrics to present the real story behind the data. She also developed a benchmark to compare the financial distribution of development partners such as the UK, US, Japan, France and China in Africa. Prior to her role at DR she worked at the International Finance Corporation and African Union Representational Mission to the US. She holds a Masters in International Affairs from George Washington University.

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Rosie is the Project Manager of Africa Reimagined (AR) at Development Reimagined (DR) where she supports high-end African brands with entering the Chinese market by operating services such as trademark protection, Chinese market research, Chinese partnership building, and Africa to China logistical support and import/export services. Rosie has worked with DR for over two years now with proven success in helping high-end African brands navigate the Chinese market. She is extremely passionate about her work because more African brands selling in the Chinese marketplace means African countries can export MORE value-added goods, create MORE jobs and foster MORE innovation in African countries.

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Leah Lynch is Deputy Director of Development Reimagined (DR), and head of the China office. Leah has over 10 years of experience in development and has lived in China for over 8 years. Leah has also travelled extensively around Asia and Africa for research. Leah supports the strategic direction of the team across China, with a mission to deliver high quality research on sustainable development and poverty reduction. Leah is also Chair of the Sustainability Forum at the British Chamber of Commerce in China, providing direction on sustainability initiatives for British and Chinese business. Leah has also consulted on various evaluations on UK aid (ICAI) and is a specialist on development cooperation from the UK and China. Leah has also consulted on various UN projects, including providing support to the UN China team during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Prior to DR, Leah was at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) China, supporting the UN’s portfolio on communication strategies, China’s South- South Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Before UNDP, Leah lived and worked in Kenya developing sustainable water policies for the Kenyan government.

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