The Forum on Sino-African Cooperation opens this Monday, November 29 at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Center (CICAD), in Diamniadio, 30km north of Dakar, capital of Senegal.
The general theme of FOCAC is: “Deepening the China-Africa partnership and promoting sustainable development to build a shared future between China and Africa in the new era.”
Jointly chaired by President Macky Sall and his counterpart XI Jinping (at a distance), this meeting sees strong African delegations flocking to Dakar. On the Chinese side, Wang Yi, State Councilor, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China leads the delegation from his country.
The presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Union of the Comoros, the Republic of South Africa, the Commission of the African Union and the Secretary-General of the United Nations are expected to participate in the meeting. ‘event.
The meeting includes several side events such as the 7th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs (in hybrid mode, face-to-face in Dakar and online in Beijing) scheduled for Monday from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Diamniadio Exhibition Center.
The Forum will be followed Tuesday by the 8th Ministerial Conference of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), from 9 am behind closed doors. The closing ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by a press conference by Chinese and Senegalese ministers.
The Forum is expected to adopt the 2022-2024 action plan. In addition, a framework document called the “Dakar Declaration” will be adopted. The same is true of a comprehensive framework called the “2035 vision of China-Africa cooperation on cooperation and climate change.”
China remains Africa’s largest donor and its largest economic partner. In Senegal, the Chinese loan portfolio is estimated at 1,200 billion FCFA (1.8 billion euros) according to the words of Aissata Tall Sall, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal. This envelope is almost made up of concessional loans (1 039 billion CFA Francs). To this is added 117 billion CFA Francs in grants and 50 billion CFA Francs in interest-free loans. “China is providing substantial financial support to Senegal. On average, we receive 80 billion CFA Francs from China in financial support per year in various fields, ”the Senegalese foreign minister said on the eve of FOCAC. This cooperation, specifies the Minister, is carried out “at a level of absolute transparency vis-à-vis China and the Senegalese people to whom we report”.
