T he Ninth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation took place in Beijing from 4 to 6 September 2024, under the theme ‘Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future’. With the exception of Eswatini, leaders from 53 African nations, along with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, HE Moussa Faki Mahamat, attended the summit. UN Secretary-General António Guterres was also a special guest.
During the summit, China established or elevated strategic partnerships with 30 countries. Additionally, China-Africa relations were upgraded from a comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership to an all-weather community, symbolising the high importance China places on Africa. In his keynote address, Chinese President Xi Jinping offered nearly $51 billion in soft loans, grants, and investment.
At the 2021 China-Africa summit in Dakar, Senegal, China had promised at least $10 billion in investment and an equal amount in credit lines. This time, China committed 360 billion yuan or $50.7 billion in financial assistance over three years.
However, it specified that 210 billion yuan would be disbursed through credit lines, while only 70 billion yuan would be allocated as fresh investment by Chinese companies. While the $51 billion offer sounds impressive, it is highly misleading. Around $29 billion will be allocated for “credit lines”, which are likely to benefit Chinese firms more than Af.