China\u2019s recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, held in Beijing, has been described as pivotal for strengthening ties between China and Africa, according to Rahmat Allah Mohamed Osman, the African Union\u2019s (AU) permanent representative to China. Speaking in an interview with Global Times, Osman highlighted that both sides have mutually beneficial needs and emphasised the importance of China\u2019s ongoing support in agriculture, industry, and talent development for Africa\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n
The African Union became the first regional international organisation to sign a cooperation plan with China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a partnership aimed at boosting African industrialisation and advancing the continent\u2019s \u201cAgenda 2063\u201d development blueprint. Osman remarked that this partnership is expected to accelerate Africa\u2019s industrialisation and modernisation efforts, which are seen as key pillars of the continent\u2019s growth and prosperity.<\/p>\n
China has also introduced several initiatives under FOCAC to support Africa, including the 2023 launch of plans for agricultural modernisation and talent development. Osman commented that these initiatives directly address Africa\u2019s urgent needs for development and are vital for building the continent\u2019s capacity to achieve long-term prosperity.<\/p>\n
Osman pointed to ongoing improvements in trade relations, with African goods such as Kenyan flowers and avocados, as well as Ethiopian and Rwandan coffee, entering the Chinese market. He expressed optimism about the potential for further growth in trade.<\/p>\n
Responding to claims of Chinese neo-colonialism in Africa, Osman dismissed these accusations as unfounded. He stressed that China has historically respected Africa\u2019s voice, offering tangible support in contrast to the Western colonial past, which exploited Africa\u2019s resources with little regard for local development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The African Union became the first regional international organisation to sign a cooperation plan with China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a partnership aimed at boosting African industrialisation and advancing the continent\u2019s \u201cAgenda 2063\u201d development blueprint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":37535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[988,21822,1098,175,21823,3996,21381,7470,2807,21824],"class_list":["post-37533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china","tag-africa","tag-african","tag-belt-and-road-initiative","tag-china","tag-china-africa-cooperation-focac","tag-chinese","tag-focac","tag-global-times","tag-kenya","tag-rahmat-allah-mohamed-osman"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/387"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37536,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37533\/revisions\/37536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}