The future is in Africa, with China

Africa is the world’s second largest and second most populous continent, with over one billion inhabitants over an area of thirty million square kilometers.

In the early 20th century, the continent moved to a path of rapid industrialization. Later on, it was found to be a significant source of raw material such as diamonds, gold, silver, oil reserves and so on which brought Africa to a leading position of development. With so many economic powers willing to cooperate, China plays one of the most significant and integral roles in this alliance. Both China and Africa indicated their mutual and beneficial trade relations by joining the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000.

This cooperation favors both parties: by allying with African countries, China gains a crucial experience of working with the most significant projects while Africa solves its development and industrialization challenges.

For the past few years, we see a quick increase of investment, the FDI flow from China to Africa expanded from $491 million to $32,4 billion, therefore making China the largest trading partner nowadays. The predominant exports from China include manufactured goods such as machinery, electronics, textile and high-tech products, while the majority of Africa’s exports is composed of natural resources such as timber, cotton and agricultural products. Focusing on trade and investments would make the alliance between African countries and China more prosperous, and will find more opportunities and partnerships that would be beneficial for each party.