Speeches
By H.E Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas
Protocols
Ladies and gentlemen,
I want to thank the Gusau Institute and especially Gen. AliyuMohammed Gusaufor the honour done me in inviting me to deliver the keynote address at this important conference.
Those who know me well will attest that nothing would have pleased me more than to be with you in-person in Abuja, my second home., my home away from home. But the African Union has assigned me an urgent task pertaining to the forthcoming November 9 Presidential elections in Madagascar. This explains why I am addressing you from Antananarivo.
Let me commend the Gusau Institute for choosing a most appropriate subject for its 2023 Annual Conference, namely: “Promoting Africa-China Belt and Road Cooperation for a New Era of Common Development”.
Despite the media frenzy about China in Africa, history informs us that China made contact with Africa during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Zheng He arrived in the East African Coast several decades earlier than Vasco Da Gama came in 1498 on an expedition to find a sea route to Asia. Zheng He’s maritime travels took place from 1405-1433. It is documented that in 1418 he led a vast fleet of no less than 62 ships ferrying 37,000 soldiers across the Indian Ocean.
No European power had the capacity, technology and know-how to produce ships of that magnitude at the time.
What is significant to be noted is that this fleeting encounter between China and Africa was not followed by a sustained relationship, trading or otherwise over the next centuries. China did not show a desire to conquer and dominate Africa in spite of its superior military and maritime prowess. Thus, no slavery, no domination, nor colonization resulted. Rather, China withdrew from the world and looked “inward” for most of the following centuries.
The next encounter between China and Africa was not to be until the post Second World War period when China burst into the world scene following the successful Chinese Revolution under Chairman Mao Tse Tung. Under Chairman Mao, the Peoples Republic of China from 1948 onwards positioned itself as supporters of the African peoples fight for self-determination, against colonialism and for independence from Western powers.
China provided training to African freedom fighters and military support to the Liberation Movements struggling to rid themselves of the racist Apartheid regime of South Africa and the remnants of colonial rule in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea- Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe.
It was during this period that China build the iconic Tan-Zam railway line from Dar-res-Salam in Tanzania to Lusaka in Zambia to link the frontline States. The project was executed between 1970-1975 with an interest-free loan with a long period of repayment.
This is the background against which most African countries voted to admit the Peoples Republic of China into the United Nations Organisation in 1971 in place of Taiwan. It is said that many African Diplomats at the UN were so excited that the illustrious son of Africa, Salim Ahmed Salim, then Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the UN danced on the floor of the General Assembly. Apparently,
the few “Tanzanian version of toi-toi” by Salim was to cost him the Secretary-Generalship of the UN when one Permanent Member of the Security Council vetoed his candidature.
The Peoples Republic of China embarked on all encompassing reforms with the ascendancy of Deng Tsao Ping. In no time, the country transformed beyond recognition chalking remarkable economic achievements. Hundreds of millions were lifted out of poverty and China became a global trade and economic power lending billions of dollars even to leading industrialized countries.
China’s goal of achieving full integration into the global economy over the longer term, currently manifests through two separate but inter-connected global initiatives, namely: The “Belt and Road” initiative which projects China’s global economic connectivity and influence along two major axes (the on-land Eurasian bridge referred to as the “Silk Road and Economic Belt – and the maritime route which connects seaports in China to those in Asia, Pacific and Africa – referred to as the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road): and The “International Capacity Cooperation” initiative which aims primarily to move offshore, in the form of project-specific investments, a significant part of China’s excess industrial/manufacturing capacity. China has also set up a variety of special purpose infrastructure investment funds, such as China – Arab Investment funds, China – South America Fund, the China – Africa Development Fund and the China – Africa Fund for Industrial Cooperation to bolster support for China – Africa industrial capacity cooperation, to boost the African industrialization drive.
Since the beginning of the 21st Century, the relationship between China and Africa has grown exponentially. Africa has become an increasingly important economic partner for China which is evidenced in the volume of trade and aid between the two partners. Chinese investment in Africa grew from USD210 million in 2000 to USD 3.17 billion in 2011. Africa has also been a top recipient of Chinese aid. From 2009 to 2012, China provided USD 10 billion in financing to Africa in the form of “concessional loans.”
During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first overseas trip to Africa in March 2013, He doubled this commitment to USD 20 billion from 2013 to 2015. Indeed, the head sovereign risk analyst of Export-Import Bank of China announced in November 2013 that by 2025, just a year or two from now,China will have provided Africa with about USD 1 trillion in financing, including direct investment, soft loans and commercial loans.
Today China boasts significant manufacturing power owing to its enormous industrial output. Just name anything needed by the world and China manufactures it, from transportation to energy, communications to health equipment, etc.Thus, the BRI should not be seen as a stand-alone investment but as part of a comprehensive development trajectory that spans several decades. Undoubtedly the BRI is a Chinese initiative, but it presents a good opportunity for global partnership that will produce trade interconnectedness and infrastructure development.
Ladies and gentlemen there are a few of lessons that I see we can learn from the Chinese experience.
First many commentators see China’s rapid development as a miracle. But it is obvious to me that this was no miracle. It came about as a result of careful and meticulous planning directed by a national vision. From my experience over the years, the saying that “failure to plan is planning to fail” is a truism. The Chinese were able to correctly analyze and understand their situation decided, where they wanted to go, and set out to plan the exact steps to be taken to get there.
But we all know that planning alone isn’t enough. Therefore, the second important lesson we can learn from the Chinese experience is the discipline of policy implementation. No matter how well one plans, without proper execution everything will come to naught. Admittedly, we have a serious problem with following through with our plans in Africa. I have seen a fair share of Good Policy documents prepared by experts at the country, regional and continental levels which have remained on the shelves while the problems that they were designed to solve linger on. I am curious to see how Africa-China partnerships could help us develop this discipline of implementation and delivery.
Thirdly, the Chinese have been able to develop without compromising on their culture, history and their way of life. I think it is remarkable that they have been able to weather all global pressures including ideological, philosophical, cultural, moral, economic and political pressures to keep their culture. From my perspective it is this ability to maintain and improve upon their way of life that has helped the Chinese to come this far. What this teaches us is that we cannot develop by seeking to copy everything from other places. Development after all is a positive evolution of culture. So how do we take stock of our history and culture, improve upon the positive aspects and resolve the negative aspects such that we can take full advantage of our enormous resources to build the prosperity that we so desire as Africans? This is a question that should continually agitate our minds as we engage our partners.
Ladies and gentlemen, amid the story of partnership between Africa and China, there have been criticisms. For example, there are those who are concerned about massive debt accumulation, which threatens our economies. Critics of the BRI accuse China of pursuing a policy of ‘debt-trap diplomacy’: luring poor, developing countries into agreeing unsustainable loans to pursue infrastructure projects so that, when they experience financial difficulty, Beijing can seize the asset, thereby extending its strategic or military reach.
The criticism is often overblown. The World Bank/IMF reports that China’s share of total African debts is only 20%. The current debt crisis Africa faces is more from private sector financial institutions than from bilateral or multilateral loans.
Of course, one major issue surrounding BRI projects and agreements have been the secrecy of contracts in general in Africa. This is not unique to China-African contracts. One expert in this area has arguedthat whatever the cause of failure to make such contracts routinely public, on a timely basis and in easily accessible form, the effect is the same – sketchy information in the public domain, most of the time attracting little interest or scrutiny, and providing cover for incompetence and misdeeds.
As the AU High Representative for Silencing the Guns, I am particularly optimistic about what the China- Africa relationship means for peace and security. The Africa-China cooperation equally aims at building a safer, stable and a more peaceful Africa by upholding the common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concepts. China and Africa continue to pursue peace through cooperation and resolve differences through dialogue and consultations. China supports African countries in seeking African solutions for African problems. The two parties jointly promote the timely accomplishment of “silencing guns in Africa”.
China and Africa have also conducted closer exchanges and cooperation in joint exercises and training, peacekeeping and stabilization, fight against terrorism, counter-narcotics, counter-piracy and other areas, while Internet security and the management and control of small arms have become new directions for cooperation.
China and Africa also advance governance experience sharing and enhance the alignment of development thinking and concepts. China supports African countries in independently exploring a development path tailored to their own national conditions, enhancing governance capacity building, building an open and inclusive society of common prosperity and achieving long lasting peace and stability. While these areas are not particularly prominent in the BRI, it is worthy of note that the Belt and Road Initiative is not at the expense of other equally important areas such as highlighted above.
In conclusion, I would simply urge that all sides must strive to make Africa-China partnership durable and a win-win for both sides. May this relationship contribute to Africa realizing its vision captured in Agenda 2063, the Africa we want.
On this, I wish you successful deliberations.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Being a speech delivered by H.E Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas.
A.
-October 30, 2023 @ 15:28 GMT |
Tags: Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas Gen. AliyuMohammed Gusaufor
