By Talibeh Hydara
On 30 July 2024, the spokesperson of the foreign ministry of China, Hua Chunying, announced the date of the much-anticipated Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit.
The Beijing summit, slated for 4-6 September, is themed Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future.
The Gambia formally joined FOCAC in September 2018 in Beijing. President Barrow, who was less than two years in office at the time, attended the summit with over forty African leaders.
The 2018 Beijing summit offered the chance for The Gambia to become a member of two big families; FOCAC and BRI, which have been somewhat incorporated in the past years.
The Gambia’s admission into FOCAC has seen remarkable development across all sectors in the country, especially in education and infrastructure with roads and bridges visible examples.
The 2021 summit, which was held virtually due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, was preceded by the 8th ministerial conference held from 29-30 November 2021, resulting in the Dakar Action Plan 2022-2024.
Now that China has announced the date for the next FOCAC summit, here is an assessment of The Gambia’s membership and expectations ahead of the forthcoming summit.
Political cooperation and exchanges
Since The Gambia joined the FOCAC family six years ago, relations with China have never been this strong. In the past three years alone, hundreds of Gambians have visited China, strengthening cooperation in different sectors; education, tourism, politics and economy.
Senior officials of the Chinese government have also paid visits to The Gambia, demonstrating a fruitful relation built on mutual respect.
Speaking at the 16th senior officials meeting from 22nd to 26th October 2023 in Beijing, Lang Yabou, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, reiterated The Gambia’s commitment to the strengthening of Sino-Africa relations.
“It is a friendship, cooperation and partnership based on commitment, appreciation of our common destiny and desire to build better a future of win-win outcome. It is for this reasons that, despite the current geopolitical tensions facing the global community, this relationship registered tremendous gains for both sides,” he said.
Trade and economic support
China is Africa’s biggest trading partner with a record $282 billion in total trade volume in 2023, according to IMF. This economic cooperation was strengthened through various strategic plans and initiatives within the frameworks of the BRI and FOCAC, which aligns the BRI with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The Gambia and China have a long history of trade relations dating back to 1975. From the duty-free agreement signed in 2017, the joint commission on trade in 2018 to the first China International Import Expo in 2019—which was launched under the framework of FOCAC—trade volumes have been on the rise between the two countries.
The Dakar Action Plan stressed boosting trade and economic cooperation between the largest developing country in the world and the continent with the largest number of developing countries.
On 6 December 2023, barely two years after the 8th ministerial conference of FOCAC, China imposed zero tariffs on 98% of imports from seven African countries, including The Gambia which allows these nations to export to China without facing customs duties on “over 8000 different tariff lines.”
PS Dampha
“Following the resumption of diplomatic relations between Banjul and Beijing, the Government of the People’s Republic of China in February 2017 extended its duty-free quota-free market access preferential scheme to The Gambia, first covering 97% of China’s tariff line and then in 2023 offered 98%. The Government of The Gambia through the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment is working with the relevant Chinese authorities to conduct risk assessment for the selected products. These products include groundnut, sesame, cashew, fish and mango. Once the risk assessment is completed, these products will then have access to the Chinese market. So far, Sesame is the only product among the selected that has completed the risk assessment and is utilizing the scheme since 2022,” Lamin Dampha, permanent secretary, trade ministry, told The Standard.
Mr Dampha noted the steady rise in trade activities between the two countries for the past years with over 75% increase in exports to China in 2023.
“In 2023, The Gambia imported $84.6M worth of goods from China as compared to $51.3M in 2019 representing an increase of 64.9%. The Gambia’s main imported products from China were electrical machinery and equipment representing ($19.2M), iron rods and steel ($9.2M), medical or surgical instruments ($7.3M) and textiles ($5.2M).
In the same period, The Gambia’s exports to China increased from $3.3M in 2019 to $5.8M in 2023 representing a significant increase by 75.9%. The main products exported from The Gambia to China were oily seeds representing ($4.2M), cashew nuts ($4.1M), groundnut and sesame oils ($1.7M), sand ($343.000), and woods ($109.000) of the total value of exports to China,” he said.
Media cooperation
In the Dakar Action Plan, there is a strong emphasis on China continuing to implement training programs for African media practitioners and promote more exchanges with their Chinese counterparts.
China has stayed true to this vision and for the past three years, several Gambian media personnel have attended capacity building programs in China, including the much popular China International Press Communication Centre program.
The CIPCC media exchange program is designed to provide journalists from around the world with a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of China’s history, culture, and current affairs.
Journalists from GRTS, QTV, The Standard, The Point, and Kerr Fatou have benefitted from this and various training opportunities offered in the spirit of FOCAC and the growing cooperation between The Gambia and China.
Cham, Editor, Standard Newspaper
“FOCAC has been a huge boost in terms of media support because here alone, at least five of our staff have attended trainings in China since 2016. So the capacity building, as indicated in the Dakar Action Plan, has been in full swing. The next step is direct support to media houses in the provision of much needed materials essential for daily production of the paper. These include printing paper, inks, printing plates, and transparent paper or films because these are things we are all struggling to acquire,” Lamin Cham, editor-in-chief of Standard Newspaper, said.
Preparations and expectations
The 2018 summit was a significant display of commitment by African leaders toward cooperation with China and the 2024 summit will not be any different.
The Gambia’s ambassador to China, H.E Masanneh N Kinteh, said preparations are in high gear and is very much optimistic about the summit as he looks to host a huge Gambian delegation.
“The preparations are ongoing and at full swing because my team and I are committed to making sure that the summit is fruitful. It will be a great achievement for us considering the fact that this is my first time of hosting His Excellency the President and delegation from The Gambia for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit. The preparations of the Beijing FOCAC Summit started a few months ago and The Gambia Embassy has actively participated in all the consultative meetings,” he said.
Ambassador Kinteh
“The pre-advanced team from The Gambia consisting mainly of Security and Protocol has visited Beijing and returned to Banjul on 3rd August. The Gambia Embassy in Beijing is working in consultation with our parent Ministry, the Chinese MFA, the Chinese Embassy in Banjul and all the other relevant stakeholders to fine-tune the plans and preparations for the effective participation of The Gambia at the Summit. FOCAC is a flagship cooperation platform where Heads of State of African countries and their Chinese counterpart can discuss matters relative to economic, political, and social ties between Africa and China. The FOCAC Summit usually attracts very high participation of nearly all countries in Africa and as such, it involves the active participation of nearly all African Diplomatic Envoys in China. The Gambia Embassy in Beijing under my leadership is therefore poised to host H.E the President and his delegation and ensure their maximum participation in the Summit.”
Ambassador Kinteh said the theme of the summit is “expected to provide a platform for high-level consultation between Chinese and African leaders to advocate for visions and initiatives in order to build a global community of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity.”
As a result, he expects bigger lessons for The Gambia across all sectors of development during the high-level convergence in Beijing.
“My expectations are not only to witness a successful summit but a summit with a difference that will further enhance and solidify the relationship between the two sides in diverse areas. The Summit provides a unique opportunity where African countries like The Gambia can learn a lot from Chinese-style modernization and explore a modern development model that suits their national conditions. China’s achievement in agriculture, transportation, medical care, education, science, innovation and technology and other fields attracted worldwide attention and are worth learning from African countries. The bilateral dialogue as part of the Summit avails African countries and the Chinese side to look into the national priorities of each country and forge partnership with China to support the socioeconomic development of African countries. I also look forward to deepening China-Africa cooperation on the global stage by supporting and promoting and protecting each other’s interests on international platforms. It is also my expectation that China will provide more support to Africa in the areas of infrastructural connectivity, capacity building, trade and investment facilitation, peace and human security, poverty eradication, food and energy security and environmental protection among other things,” he told The Standard.
In the area of trade and investment, Lamin Dampha equally expects cooperation meetings with their Chinese counterparts for The Gambia to access one of the biggest markets in the world.
“The Gambia’s main expectation from China is to continue to collaborate and deepen the trade relation between the two countries, ensure necessary technical and technological support to enhance value chain development in The Gambia. We also expect that the Gambia’s participation would expedite the process of the risk assessment for the remaining products to enable their access to the Chinese market under the extended duty-free quota-free market access scheme. FOCAC provides a unique opportunity for the Gambia to engage the Chinese authorities in the area of technical assistance to expedite the risk assessment process to enable remaining products to access the Chinese market on duty-free quota-free basis.”
FOCAC is a true reflection of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence which guides China’s foreign policy objectives. The 2024 Beijing summit is expected to promote such relations to build China-Africa community with a shared future.
