The Fourth Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is an official forum between the People’s Republic of China and all states in the African continent (excluding Eswatini) and will play a pivotal role in Africa’s economic recovery. The fourth summit is being held from 29-30 November 2021 in Dakar, Senegal and is expected to attract hundreds of ambassadors and diplomats from China and across the African continent.
The core theme of the summit is to "Deepen China-Africa Partnership and Promote Sustainable Development", providing the opportunity for African states to attract foreign investment and for China to solidify its foreign policy towards Africa in the coming years. The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin has confirmed that the conference will aim to “chart the course for China-Africa relations for the next three years and more to come”.
However, the summit takes place in the midst of mounting pressure on African countries to provide financial transparency and be held accountable for the agreements made with China. Concerns about the nature of the relationship between Africa’s elites and China include calls for a restructure of the FOCAC itself to elevate African agency. Notably, FOCAC is the first summit since the African Continental Free Trade Agreement was ratified, and it provides such an opportunity. Leveraging the Agreement can provide the basis for industrial development and can help Africa to gain greater access to the Chinese market.
It is expected that a percentage of FOCAC 2021 will centre around the impacts of COVID-19 including vaccine access and debt forgiveness. The African Union will seek a commitment from China to open up vaccine production facilities, allowing African states to purchase vaccines and further mobilising support to establish vaccine manufacturing hubs across Africa, like that in Egypt. In a recent report titled ‘FOCAC at 21: Future Trajectories of China-Africa Relations’, Lina Benabdallah points out that African states provided much needed assistance to China during the early stages of the pandemic and the FOCAC 2021 provides the perfect forum for China to reciprocate in kind through vaccine diplomacy. The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has further led to African countries' abilities to pay off its debt, with the World Bank estimating the funding gap standing at $290 billion in 2020. Whilst China is a participant in the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (and says it has signed agreements with 19 African countries to suspend debt agreements), if no further debt support is agreed upon it could lead to defaults by African countries.