Together on the road to success

A1: The total package of aid, trade and investment is large on the African economic horizon and one might expect more investment in African countries by Chinese companies in the coming years. At the same time, China has promised to buy more African goods (not just commodities) and there is a growing services relationship.

A2: China has some comparative advantages in infrastructure construction and has been willing to fund (lending-based) infrastructure in African countries. Most of China's own infrastructure construction by comparison was domestically financed.

Thus, on the one hand, African countries need infrastructure, but building this with foreign funding presents somewhat of a financial/fiscal tightrope. In any case, it is hard to generalize about other parties investing in Africa because each bilateral/sub-regional case has its own story.

A3: China is a well-known, recent story of how it transformed the productivity of its own agricultural sector.

That story is unique, so it cannot simply be taken wholesale and replicated. But it does set an important and powerful macro example of such a transformation.

Again, Africa has more than four dozen countries, and it is thus difficult to generalize where related policy takeaways may apply across a whole continent.

A4: Improving the foreign investor competitiveness of African countries would obviously help, across countries and over time.

The challenge is to weigh the short and long-run interests of different communities within the nation in that context also.

China was able to let some get rich first, but not all countries can do this and enjoy continuous political stability. African countries will each write their own story.

A5: China's trade with all countries has grown phenomenally over 40 years. Related trade growth with African countries has mostly taken place over the second half of that 40 years.

If e-commerce can facilitate market access within countries and regions, then individuals and communities can, in theory, be more quickly empowered to take advantage of markets, and ideally ultimately be encouraged to increase their productivity, enjoy rising incomes, etc.

Dr Lauren Johnson, former research fellow at the University of Melbourne and a China and Africa-focused development economist