Africa urged to adopt Chinese industrial approach to spur growth

A trade expert on Friday called on African countries to adopt the Chinese methods of production in order to prop up its underdeveloped trade and industrial capacity.

Darlington Mwape, Senior Fellow at the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), a global organization that fosters sustainable development, said Beijing's willingness to do business with all countries saw its volume of trade surpass that of major world economies.

"Whereas China's foreign policy is customized to engage with Africa, the continent has no agenda to engage the Chinese. China leap-frogged into a leading world economy because it capitalized on many advantages to industrialize, including efficient workforce," Mwape told journalists in Nairobi.

His remarks came after Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled on Friday Beijing's plans to support Africa in industrialization, infrastructure development, finance, agriculture, trade and investment, environmental conservation, health and peace building.

At the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in South Africa that kicked off Friday, President Xi said China will actively promote industrial alignment and production capacity cooperation as well as encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Africa.

Mwape, who is also Zambia's former Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), said by 2035, about 330 million youths who will need jobs will enter Africa's labor market, which calls for new frontiers like digital technology to offer vast opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment.

"Burdened with the need to create millions of jobs for the continent's fast-growing jobless youth, there is real pressure on African governments to think outside the box to find working solutions urgently," he pointed out.

Mwape was speaking in Nairobi to announce the Trade and Development Symposium (TDS) to be held in Nairobi from Dec. 14-17 which will run parallel to the WTO's 10th ministerial conference.

With more than 1,500 participants, the symposium will be the biggest ever gathering of trade experts in the world, where they will be joined by WTO trade ministers and their delegations to discuss important topics on global trade and sustainable development.

Deborah Vorhies, ICTSD Managing Director, said trade is a vital component in driving development, and therefore Africa should broaden its trading base.

"Currently, the continent trades mostly with itself and emerging economies, and there is the need to spread the net to other spheres. I concur that Africa can evade her constraints through innovation and adopt digital economy," she said.

The TDS will assemble diverse participants to broaden the dialogue on trade negotiations and explore the links between trade and sustainable development.

The symposium has accompanied every WTO meeting since 2003 and was conceived as a safe space for private sector executives, civil society and intergovernmental representatives, and WTO delegates from the 161 member states to engage on issues not being discussed inside the WTO Ministerial Conference. Endit