The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing from September 4 to 6. It takes place at a critical juncture when the world is grappling with various regional and global crises and there is a pressing need for countries from the Global South to join hands. How will this year’s FOCAC elevate ties between China and Africa? What is the significance of building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future? The Global Times (GT) interviewed Melha Rout Biel (Biel), executive director of the Institute for Strategic and Policy Studies, South Sudan.
GT: What is your expectation for this year’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)?
Biel: Concerning the FOCAC, we have a lot of expectations. The agenda of this year’s FOCAC is focusing on geopolitics, debts sustainability, innovation, climate change and climate financing. These are very useful areas.
Geopolitics are very important. Nowadays, we have a lot of crises in the world such as the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Ukraine-Russia conflict. We have also a lot of others issues here and there. Therefore, it becomes very important to engage one another and to use the means of peaceful settlement of problems, rather than a military one.
Another issue is climate change. As I’m talking now in South Sudan, we have been having a lot of floods for the last six years and more than five states are underwater. That shows how important climate financing is.
Talking about innovation. We have a lot of challenges in Africa, and especially in my young country South Sudan. You must have the tools, the knowhow, or somebody might teach you how to do things. And innovation is very important. China has become very innovative in so many areas, one about going green. We visited a number of factories in China and we were very impressed of what they are doing there, without causing damage to the environment.
And when I was traveling in China, sitting side by side with my Chinese colleagues, they do business with their telephones. But in Africa, we use a telephone just for calling, even it has a lot of functions and you can use it for so many things.
Talking about debt financing. I think this is very important that China has done a lot to support Africa, but there is also a lot of criticism about debts. Loan is an agreement. If you were saying “I’m going to pay the loan back in five or 10 years,” you are supposed to prepare yourself to make sure that you pay them back in time. But in most cases, it is not the case. The problem is on the people who are taking loans, not China.
But still, China and Africa are working together, and that’s why it’s very important to be very careful about giving loans to governments. So debt sustainability is very important. I hope in FOCAC they will come up with a clear roadmap, about how to give loans, how to sustain loans and so on, without affecting the development of a country.
All in all, we have a lot of expectations for this year’s FOCAC. It is an opportunity that only happens every three years. I hope that besides the agenda, contracts and agreements can also be signed by the heads of state and participants there.
GT: How do you view China’s engagement with the African continent in the past few years? Is this a positive development for the continent?
Biel: I’m quite sure it has been a positive development. I’ve been traveling to different parts of Africa in the last two years. If you look around now, you will see there are a lot of activities going on, for example, roads and bridges constructions. And most of those construction firms are either Chinese or use money from China. We need development in terms of a road network throughout Africa, and China is trying to invest to do that.
GT: What is the key for China-South Sudan relations?
Biel: When we talk about China-South Sudan relations, first of all, we have to know that South Sudan is an oil-dependent country. We depend on oil for 98 percent of our income. China needs oil. We had a war between 2013 and 2016. Almost everyone left South Sudan, but China stayed. We are born together economically. We are benefiting from each other. Our interest is also the interest of China.
Second, we have a lot of students from South Sudan going to China for education. Secondary school books of South Sudan are printed in China.
Third, South Sudan has a lot of resources, but we have not explored them now because of the instability we have. That’s why China helps us politically and we have Chinese peacekeeping forces in South Sudan. The peacekeeping in South Sudan is good for us. You can’t do business when there is a war.
Fourth, South Sudan supports the “one China” principle and takes an active part in China-proposed initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative. Meanwhile, China has offered support to South Sudan at international occasions such as calling for the UN to lift sanctions.
We have a lot of mutual interests, and I’m quite sure if we have stability in South Sudan, we can become even more closer with China. For example, we need China in terms of agriculture. We want to leave the oil-dependent situation, so we can invest in agriculture and I know China has very good technology.
GT: Both China and African countries are Global South countries. What do you think of China’s role in defending and promoting the interests of Global South?
Biel: China is a very powerful country in so many areas. China’s voice is very important. It helps the Global South to stand firm in defending their interest. Now we have BRICS, which is another important global organization led by China and South Africa and others. Also, we, as an African think tank, are actually supporting this and we want to play a role.
We are very thankful for China to take the lead on this. There are a lot of things that can be done if the Global South stands together. I’m quite sure that China is not alone, Africa is not alone. By other who actually ignoring this is a big shame. It is going to influence the world politics. A lot of countries now are opening up their eyes. They have to join in, because there are a lot of benefit being a member of the Global South.
GT: Have you taken note of the concept of “Chinese modernization”? How does “Chinese modernization” offer experiences to Africa?
Biel: I think Chinese modernization is a very interesting concept. I read about the history of opening up and have taken part in seminars organized by different Chinese institutions. I know that in China, people have a firm commitment to what China wants to be. Government changes, but the policy and the foreign policy remains. We actually follow this. This is what we are missing in most cases in third world countries.
In my eyes, Chinese modernization has so many components. China is now becoming cleaner, this is just a good example. If you travel anywhere in China, you find green. This is very crazy because you have to fight against pollution to be green. But at some parts of Africa, maybe except South Africa, people are burning the environment. They are burning and destroying trees which may have been there for 100 years. So while we have modernization, we also have to take care of the environment.
Technology plays a very important role in modernization. If we want to do that, then Africa must also make sure that we support technology development. I know how expensive it is. You need to get people with the minds. You need good scientists. And you also need young people who are flexible, who can learn something new. So this is a long-term investment. I know it took China a long time to come to this state.
Now we have our brothers and sisters in China who can actually help us in one way or another. We are not competing, but we are making impact. In this year’s FOCAC summit, industrialization is one of the key points. Africa aims to achieve industrialization, so I think China’s industrialization and China’s opening-up is something that we can learn a lot from, not only as a country, but also as a continent and as people.
