#Focac: Pretoria - African countries will use the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac) to explore ways to diminish the trade imbalance currently tilted in China’s favour, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Thursday.
“The continent is really united in saying we really need to build a new basis for trade with China if we are going to reduce the quantitative inequalities. To grow the trade, we got to move from beyond just supplying raw materials, into us also supplying some value added products,” Davies told African News Agency at the Focac ministerial meeting in Pretoria.
“Another way of doing it is by boosting the productive capacity in Africa by investing in industries. It is not just foreign investors that we are looking at to do that, but they are one part of our efforts to industrialise. Those are the consistent messages being sent out to the Chinese.”
He said judging from Africa’s experience with China, particularly on the Focac front, the Asian giant had been “a pretty reliable partner”.
“What they (Chinese) said they would do at Focac in 2012, they pretty well did, and more. There is a good record of delivery on what is agreed at these engagements. They are a pretty reliable partner and that is why something like Focac attracts so much attention from African countries,” said Davies.
Regarding criticism of perceived Chinese dominance of Africa’s weaker economies, Davies said the authorities in Beijing conceded that there was a problem.
“The problem is that the relationship is around a supply of raw materials and an import of finished goods. The Chinese are willing to work around that in ways which other partners are not. They don’t try to tell us that the status quo is fine and that everything ought to be like that. They actually indicate that they are willing to work to try and address that through promotion of value added exports and increasing investments,” he said.
“That is really what the continent is telling China. We are saying, we need to change the nature of the relationship.”
The Focac summit, the first to be hosted on African soil, will kick off in Johannesburg on Friday. It will be held under the theme “Africa-China Progressive Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development”.
On the sidelines of the Focac summit, Davies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Liberian Minister of Commerce and Industry Axel Addy. The economic and technical agreement aims to improve trade between the two African countries, which are currently minimal.
“If we look at the existing relationship between our two countries in the economic sphere, it is actually very small. There is however something, there is a trading relationship but it is very small. We believe that this MOU will empower our departments to work together to identify opportunities,” said Davies.
Addy said there has already been interest from some South African entities to do business in Liberia.
“This presents new opportunities for strengthening the business environment by showing that Liberia is a more predictable and transparent investment destination. I have been meeting with some potential investors from South Africa. I have been encouraging them to see Liberia as a new destination for further collaboration and investment.
“I would like to see more South African contractors participating in some of the tenders for our infrastructure programmes and Liberian business people venturing into South Africa to see if there are opportunities for trade,” said Addy.
He told the African News Agency that intra-continental trade within Africa was a priority if the continent’s economies were prosper.
“We have to work closely together to create jobs. We have a very large youth population. More and more of our young people are graduating, they are looking for opportunities. We have to increase intra-African trade. It is currently at 13 percent,” said Addy.
The summit will be attended by representatives of more than 50 African countries, mainly heads of state, and Chinese president Xi Jinping, who arrived early on a state visit to South Africa.
ANA