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Ethiopia to strengthen relations with China at the FOCAC 2021

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Xi Jinping at the FOCAC 2018, Beijing

ADDIS ABABA, NOVEMBER 28, 2021 — The Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meets this year in Dakar, Senegal, for the 8th time from November 29-30, 2021 with the theme “Deepen China-Africa Partnership and Promote Sustainable Development to Build a China-Africa Community with a Shared Future in the New Era.”

"In the past two decades, the FOCAC mechanism has been proven to be an effective and robust platform in promoting China-Africa cooperation by supporting critical infrastructure development to engender greater connectivity, boosting trade activities, stimulating foreign direct investment and creating an enabling environment to unleash entrepreneurship and new local employment opportunities", Ethiopia's Minister of Finance, Ahmed Shide, said in a statement.

 

China's Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan and Ethiopia's Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide [Picture: Minister of Finance]

 
"The successful completion of the Ethio-Djibouti Railway project is one of the early successes of FOCAC in creating a conducive environment for regional integration in Africa and complementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA)", added Ahmed Shide.

He also remarked that China has been Ethiopia's biggest trading partner, largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the biggest infrastructure contractor for many years. Under the FOCAC framework, and with the support and assistance from China, several road infrastructure projects are completed with a direct impact on improving commerce and livelihoods of Ethiopians. 
 
The support extended from China has been also instrumental in upgrading and construction of airports, water and power plants, factories and industrial parks. These investments have a profound impact on jobs creation and poverty eradication, according to Ethiopia's Minister of Finance.
 
The cooperation between the two countries in the realm of skill development has been instrumental with the realization of the construction of the African Leadership Excellence Academy, the Addis Ababa Riverside Green Development projects and the first and second satellites which were both launched with China's assistance.
 
"Ethiopia and China have forged important & unwavering friendship and supported each other in this changing world, including in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. With shared belief on mutual benefit, sustainability, inclusive and independent development, I firmly believe Ethio-China’s all-round cooperation would get stronger via new forms of cooperation, such as digital economy, green development, aerospace and many more new and exciting endeavors", said the Minister of Finance.
 
He concluded his statement stressing on Ethio-China friendship which is based on mutual trust and support. 
 
The first FOCAC Ministerial Conference was held in Beijing from 10 to 12 October 2000. President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji of the State Council and Vice President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China participated in the conference. 
 
More than 80 ministers from China and 44 countries and representatives from 17 international and regional organizations attended this meeting. African attendees included President Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia, President Benjamin William Mkapa of Tanzania, and Secretary-General Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim of the Organization of African Unity. 
 
FOCAC 2015 Johannesburg, South Africa [Picture: Chinafile]

The conference passed the Beijing Declaration of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation and the Programme for China–Africa Cooperation in Economic and Social Development.

The FOCAC process provides a unique diplomatic mechanism to promote dialogue between China and Africa, while at the same time it facilitates the development of a common political and economic agenda which will advance constructive South-South cooperation for mutual benefit.

FOCAC is the arena that aims to develop China-Africa cooperation and problem solving and also provides an important framework for developing a common development agenda in a rapidly globalising international system.

The FOCAC deliberations have brought African and Chinese leaders closer together and crafted a shared vision for policy coordination, expanded commercial interaction and common prosperity.

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