What happened?
On 29 and 30 November, the People's Republic of China and the African countries participated in the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Dakar, Senegal. The forum's theme was 'Deepen China-Africa Partnership and Promote Sustainable Development to Build a China-Africa with a Shared Future in a New Era' and was attended by 53 African countries and the African Union. Eswatini, the only African country with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, did not participate in the forum.

Despite being a ministerial meet, the opening ceremony was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who addressed the forum online and delivered a speech highlighting agricultural cooperation, Chinese investments in Africa and greater trade exchanges between China and the African continent. President Xi delivered his speech based on the White Paper published by the State Council Information Office on China's cooperation with Africa in the new era. It emphasized China's intentions of helping the African Union with achieving its goals of vaccinating 60 per cent of the African population by 2022, alleviating poverty, promoting agricultural development, encouraging investments worth USD 10 billion in Africa, providing means to digitization of the economy and green development and advocating closer cultural ties and people-to-people exchanges

The forum also adopted four resolutions: the Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024), the China-Africa Cooperation Vision 2035, the Sino-African Declaration on Climate Change and the Declaration of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC.

What is the background?
First, FOCAC as a framework for China's programmes in Africa. China is instrumental in developing African road and transport infrastructure and building medical and other social facilities in the continent. China's investments in Africa are similar to its actions in Southeast Asia and South Asia. It is trying to build a connecting transport system under the flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative. The FOCAC acts as an institutional framework in the African continent and provides China with a solid base for implementing and initiating its influential infrastructural and financial development plans. The White Paper on China-Africa Cooperation said: "Over the past two decades, FOCAC has become an important platform for collective dialogue between China and Africa and an effective mechanism for pragmatic cooperation."

Second, China's economic interests in Africa. China's cooperation with Africa began soon after establishing China as a republic and gradually grew as African countries gained independence. However, the cooperation between China and the continent grew substantially after the 2000s. China invested over USD 125 billion in Africa between 2000 and 2006 and invested heavily in African infrastructure and other economic and social facilities. Trade between China and Africa has risen drastically from USD 20 billion in 2000 to USD 208 billion in 2019 (pre-pandemic).

Third, China's strategic interests in Africa. In the early 21st century, the Chinese economy had elevated itself from the status of a poor developing country and was now being recognized as the fastest-growing GDP. The economy was in constant need of raw material, mineral resources, fuel and petroleum, readily available in Africa. China is currently focused on securing its supplies of cobalt which is used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles. At the same time, the country pushes forward to becoming a green and zero-carbon economy by 2060. 
China also seeks to secure the support of African countries in international organizations and institutions where it has been pushing for multilateralism. A strong south-south cooperation, which President Xi projected heavily, is already underway. The cooperation between China and Africa showed its strength when more African leaders chose to attend the FOCAC Summit in 2018 than the UN General Assembly meeting, which took place later in the same month. As African countries receive enormous loans, economic benefits and profit from the infrastructural development equipped by China, they do not find themselves in a position to negate China's desires in international settings.

Fourth, African compliance with Chinese plans. There are two primary reasons behind African countries' blind trust in China. First, African countries may prefer to trust China, a country that did not exploit its resources and its people in the centuries-old colonial past. Second, Africa finds it more convenient to take loans from China who does not prod its borrowers to rectify its political-economic-social settings. Unlike the EU, the US, the IMF, and the World Bank, China focuses on acquiring good relations with the African countries to secure its interests and does not bother changing the existing anomalies.

What does it mean?
The cooperation between China and Africa will continue to grow in the coming decade as the country establishes itself as one of the foremost supporters of African development and economic sustainability. Africa's support for the country is bound to grow further in the coming decades as China pushes billions in investment and provides greater assistance than other countries. There is much criticism regarding China's lending to African countries and the status of their independence in the face of China's extreme support that at times leads them into a debt trap. However, African countries such as Rwanda and Guinea have rejected accusations of lack of freedom in their relationship and have deeply appreciated the assistance offered by China.