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26 July 2022 – Amid calls for African nations to boost exports to China, agriculture seems an obvious choice. More than 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are smallholder farmers and 23% of the region’s GDP comes from agriculture, according to McKinsey. Africa is also home to 60% of the world’s arable land. Demand is there: Chinese food imports have increased from $13bn two decades ago to $161bn in 2020, but just 2.6% of that total comes from Africa. Lauren Johnston, a professor at the University of Sydney’s China Studies Centre, says that African producers of crops like soybeans could even replace US farmers or help China diversify its supply in the face of tensions with the West.
To that end, and sensing that pandemic-ravaged African countries would be unlikely to tolerate more debt, Xi Jinping announced plans in Dakar to massively boost African imports to China, with a particular focus on agriculture. China would, he said, launch 10 poverty reduction and agricultural projects for Africa and send 500 agricultural experts to the continent. It would aim to reach $300bn in total imports from Africa in the next three years, which Sun says is feasible based on 2021 trade levels.
Beijing would also open “green lanes” to prioritise inspection of agricultural goods heading to China from Africa and further extend the list of products enjoying tariff free treatment for the least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China, many of them African.
China also plans to provide $10bn of trade financing to support African exports, undertake 10 connectivity projects for the continent and deploy an expert group to discuss economic cooperation with officials at the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Source: Africa.business