Rahamtalla Osman, permanent representative of the AU to China (DONATIEN NIYONZIMA)

China has actively developed cooperation with the Africa Union (AU). In 2014, China sent a mission to the AU, marking a new stage in the relationship. China values the AU’s leading role in advancing African integration and building a stronger African continent through unity, and recognises its dominant role in safeguarding peace and security in Africa. China also hopes the AU can play a bigger role in regional and international affairs. On the occasion of the Ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to be held in Beijing this September, Permanent Representative of the AU to China Rahamtalla Osman shared his thoughts with ChinAfrica on China-Africa relations, the AU’s role in China-Africa cooperation as well as his expectations for the meeting. Below are edited excerpts of his views. 

ChinAfrica: What is your expectation from the upcoming FOCAC Summit? Will it lead to closer cooperation between China and African countries on addressing some of the challenges that the world is facing today? 

Rahamtalla Osman: First of all, I think we have to go back to the idea itself of establishing FOCAC. The importance of FOCAC is that it is a mechanism that governs the relationship between China and Africa in order to make it more useful and more interactive. This mechanism meets every three years. But in between we have meetings of senior officials. These meetings are meant to improve relations.  

So, as such, it is a forum that helps us to deal with many issues between China and Africa, and at the same time, to discuss with China and share with China our views on global issues as well. I think the best example of this is the COVID-19 period, when China managed to help us a lot to overcome the difficulties that we were facing at the time. So, FOCAC is a forum that can help a lot. 

The Beijing Summit is going to use a slightly different layout from the previous ones in that it’s going to be organised by some thematic committees, co-chaired by China and one African country. What is the significance of this change?  

In fact, this Beijing meeting is at a summit level - FOCAC is usually held at the ministerial level - and you will have 53 African countries represented by the heads of states or vice presidents or prime ministers, very high-level officials. So, when every one of them have to make a statement or speech, it may consume the time which can be used for discussing the bilateral relations. So they divided it. This time they agreed to divide the conference into these four sessions, and the sessions deal with issues of concern to the members. So this is just a new way of handling, which I think is more perfect than the previous organisation. 

Since its establishment in 2000, FOCAC has come a long way. What are the most considerable benefits FOCAC has brought to both China and Africa? 

The most significant is that we meet regularly in order to discuss issues of concern because the challenges are changing; they are not the same. Dakar meeting, for instance, was held during the COVID-19 period, which influenced the discussions. But now we have new issues to be discussed. We have global conflicts like the conflict in Ukraine, and even the war in Gaza, which are also affecting the relations and the economic situation in Africa. So, we need to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with China. And we share a lot of converging views.  

The AU Agenda 2063 is an important strategic framework that charts out the course for the socioeconomic transformation of the continent in the decades to follow. What is your view on this agenda, and do you see a growing synergy between the AU Agenda 2063 and the FOCAC mechanism? 

I think the synergy goes beyond FOCAC. There is also a synergy between Agenda 2063 and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is another mechanism. And for this reason, the AU has signed an agreement with China in order to see how we can implement the vision of Agenda 2063. At the same time, 52 African countries have signed BRI agreements with China, as this is another avenue for cooperation. The BRI has the resources and ideas and Agenda 2063 has the same ideas, so, they converge. 

Chinese instructor Chen Ling (right) teaches her apprentices to sing Chinese songs during a work break in Nairobi, Kenya, on 23 May 2023. Chen works for the electrical equipment maintenance section of the Africa Star Railway Operation Company (XINHUA) 

The BRI started off as a mega project to improve infrastructure in participating countries. But now it has taken on a new role to try to look beyond just infrastructure and include some more areas such as green transformation. How do you look at the benefits that the BRI has brought to both China and African countries? 

Definitely the BRI I believe is very important. The problem is that in Africa we inherited a very meagre infrastructure from the colonial era. And this has divided the continent. So, our plan within Agenda 2063 is to connect Africa. And this is why we feel that the BRI shares with us the same idea of connectivity. But this connectivity issue should not be isolated from other areas. We need roads also to develop other areas, such as agriculture, education and economy. You need to merge these projects together. 

Right now, there’s a lot of focus and emphasis on Africa’s industrialisation and agricultural modernisation. How has China contributed along the way? 

One of the problems that African economies face is the reliance on exportation of raw material. We don’t have added value products, and this could not happen without industrialisation. With regard to China, last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping in Johannesburg declared that China would help Africa in industrialisation, agricultural modernisation, and talent or capacity building. These are all connected. I mean, you cannot talk about industries in Africa alone as agriculture is the locomotive of industry in Africa. So, if we merge the two together, I think that will add value to our products and this would also improve the living conditions of our people. 

So we are appreciative of the announcement. And now I think this FOCAC will discuss the modalities of execution. 

China’s support for Africa focuses on development and adheres to clear principles and policies. How do you evaluate China’s policy towards Africa and what’s your take on doubts expressed by some Western countries about China’s role in Africa? 

The view that China is exploiting Africa is not correct. We believe that this is an insult to us. We are mature enough to know what we are doing and we know how to deal with a country. We are happy to see cooperation with China. It’s not new. We have been dealing with China for a long time. We were dealing with China even during the colonial era. When the same countries that are now accusing us were colonising our continent, it was China and a very few other countries who helped us in order to get rid of colonisation.

China’s policy is non-interference in the affairs of other countries, and this is what makes us respect our relations with China. So, these accusations by the West are definitely baseless accusations.