FOCAC lights path to stronger Sino-African partnership

The year 2025 will be remarkable for China-Africa cooperation. Both civilizations will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. It also marks a year of the 2024 FOCAC Summit declaration on jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, and the 10-point partnership action plan (2025-27) that was adopted to light the path to China-Africa cooperation and modernization of the Global South.

Framed by President Xi Jinping's speech titled Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a Community with a Shared Future, the next three years of implementing the 2024 FOCAC Summit outcomes will play a transformative role in accelerating the high-quality development needed by Africa.

Setting the stage for the implementation of partnership plans to modernize Africa was Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to the continent earlier this year. It was in keeping with a 35-year-old tradition of China's foreign ministers visiting Africa as their first overseas trip at the beginning of every year.

Wang's trip in January took him to Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Chad and Nigeria. The visit was significant as it strengthened mechanisms for sharing governance experiences between China and Africa.

For China, good governance is the most powerful instrument for promoting peace and security, enhancing infrastructure development, reducing poverty and improving the quality of life in developing countries. Good governance also accelerates the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the China-Africa high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the goals of Agenda 2063 of the African Union, and the individual development strategies of African countries.

As the foundation for the silver jubilee celebrations of Sino-Africa cooperation, the governance experience sharing will catalyze the implementation of the 10 partnership actions for modernization covering the key areas of mutual learning among civilizations, trade prosperity, industrial chain cooperation, connectivity, development cooperation, health, agriculture and livelihoods, people-to-people exchanges, green development, and common security.

So why have the FOCAC summits been more successful in implementing the continent's modernization strategy than any other international partnership summits that collectively shape Africa's development trajectory?

First, the FOCAC summit action plans exemplify China's commitment to the principles of amity, sincerity, real results and good faith. This commitment has advanced the continent's priorities, rejuvenating the clarion call of the Africa rising story.

Second, anchored on the philosophical thought on humanism, the FOCAC has always been people-centric in nature. This has given the continent of Africa and its citizens an equal opportunity to experience high-quality development that is just and open, and one that puts people first and features diversity and inclusiveness.

Third, the FOCAC resonates well with the Pan-African idea of advancing unity of Africans and the elimination of Western dominations characterized by exploitation. More than 50 African heads of state attended the 2024 FOCAC Summit.

Fourth, the FOCAC summits have offered a safe landing site for other global public goods from China such as the Belt and Road Initiative, Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative that have revitalized Africa's economy in the post-COVID-19 era. These have enabled the continent to stay afloat amid a looming global recession.

Fifth, the FOCAC declarations and action plans have been enablers of restoration of regional peace and security that provided much-needed stability in the turbulent continent. Through upholding the principles of multilateralism, fairness, justice, openness and cooperation, the FOCAC has helped foster a favorable environment for enhancing high-quality peaceful development in the continent.

Last but not least, in an all-dimensional boost to Africa's development, the implementation of the FOCAC partnership actions for modernization will indeed make the years 2025-27 anni mirabiles — which means "incredible years" in Latin — for China-Africa cooperation.

The author is executive director of China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.