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FOCAC 2024 $50 Billion To African Leaders: After the arrival of most African leaders, followed by a flurry of bilateral talks, the triennial FOCAC meetings started on Wednesday. We now have a clearer idea of China’s commitments to the continent over the next few years and its strategic focus.
FOCAC Meeting 2024:
President Xi Jinping pledged $50 billion in financial support to the continent over the next three years. The headline commitment is higher than the $40 billion of three years ago, but down from $60 billion in 2018.
The three-day event is still going and we’ve already had a dizzying array of pledges but a key trend has already emerged. As Martin reports below, there has been a clear emphasis on developing green energy infrastructure. It points to Beijing’s drive to improve access to African markets, in the face of US and European trade restrictions. It also reflects the desire of African governments to lay down the infrastructure needed to add more value locally as the energy transition unfolds.
Strategic investments in green energy technologies are proving to be a central focus of China in its latest round of dealmaking with African countries.
The ongoing FOCAC summit has seen Beijing commit to investing over $50 billion to African countries over the next three years in a string of new deals. Several partnerships with African countries involve supply chains for key minerals required to develop green technologies, including batteries for electric vehicles. Deals to enable the expansion of Chinese manufacturers of green technologies into African markets have also been unveiled.
China on Wednesday signed a pact with Zambia and Tanzania to modernize the run-down Tazara railway, which runs from central Zambia to the port of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, and spans nearly 2,000 kilometers. The move would establish an alternative cargo route for the transportation of copper and cobalt from Zambia via the Indian Ocean and will be rivaling the US-backed Lobito Corridor which terminates at Angola’s Lobito port on the Atlantic.
Nigeria’s government signed a memorandum with China’s Mutual Commitment Group to assemble electric tricycles in Nigeria. The firm will also establish a training and testing center in Nigeria for solar and other renewable energy technologies.
China and South Africa also announced plans to expand cooperation in renewable energy, energy storage, transmission and distribution. They further announced in a joint statement that they would co-host a new energy investment conference to be organized by their respective chambers of commerce and relevant associations.
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