| In September 2013,the President of the People’s Republic of China H.E.Xi Jinping revealed one of the biggest projects of modern times;an innovative and ambitious initiative meant to revitalize trade exchanges among different poles of the world:China’s One Belt and One Road Initiative(OBOR).Today referred to as The Belt and Road Initiative(BRI),this project aims at connecting China to East and Central Asia,Europe and Africa by land through the Silk Road Economic Belt,and across the sea via the Maritime Silk Road.The BRI geographical scope covers more or less seventy countries,and keeps expanding with a particular and growing interest for Africa.Indeed,Sino-African relationships have significantly deepened in the past years and several development projects have been implemented on the African continent under this umbrella.A cornerstone of this growing cooperation is the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC)which has been since its creation in 2000,a suitable framework for strategic and mutual development.During the 3rd summit of the FOCAC,held in Beijing on 3rd September 2018,President Xi Jinping reiterated China’s commitment towards Africa for reducing poverty and reaching consistent growth.China’s BRI could therefore serve as a tool for addressing the infrastructure deficit,and play a significant role in the economic and regional integration in Africa.The priority areas of the BRI(connectivity,trade,and investments among others)perfectly range with the focus areas of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 among which is communication and infrastructure connectivity.Agenda 2063 is a development program which was established by the African Union and envisions Africa’s sustainable development and inclusive growth by 2063.Like the AU Agenda 2063,the BRI is rooted on notions of peace,cooperation,mutual benefit,economic integration and cultural tolerance.As the Egyptian President H.E.Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said,the BRI converges effectively with the AU’s Agenda 2063 since both projects aim for a peaceful,prosperous and integrated Africa.Hence the necessity to align the BRI with the Agenda 2063 in order,not only to maximize the impact of these two projects on Africa’s development,but also to open new doors for African development and create new opportunities for a deeper cooperation between China and Africa. |
