“China is a perfect partner for Africa”- Paul Frimpong, Founder, Africa-China Centre for Policy

The Founder and Executive Director of the Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory, Paul Frimpong, says that China has shown credible pathways for creating win-win cooperation with Africa, making the country the continent’s favorite partner.

Paul Frimpong made this revelation while delivering a speech at the 12th meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum 2023 held in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China.

The Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University (IASZNU) launched the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum in October 2011 to establish a forum for discussion and exchanges between Chinese and African think tanks. After eleven years of unremitting efforts, CATTF has successfully held eleven sessions in Africa and China.

Within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), CATTF nurtures long-term cooperation and encourages academic exchanges among academics and policymakers in China and Africa.

He was speaking on the topic "leading at the edge of chaos: why China became Africa’s perfect partner".

According to Mr. Frimpong, "the significance of when China showed up in Africa to provide the needed support has often been overlooked. More often than not, it’s lost completely in the Africa-China debate, and that is very intriguing."

He said the relationship between China and Africa is built on trust and mutual respect, rather than out of convenience.

"In the year 2000, the entire African continent was labeled as "the hopeless continent" by Western actors. It was within the same year, in October, to be specific, that the first Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held," he added.

"Twenty-two years later, FOCAC continues to serve its purpose as a platform for collective discourse on cooperation between Africa and China." "It has delivered tangible results and opportunities for multiple African countries, and this will continue to grow into the future."

"A friend in need is a friend indeed," he concluded.

This year’s forum attracted Chinese and African government officials, African diplomatic envoys in China, representatives of international organizations, leaders, experts, and scholars of well-known think tanks, and representatives of Chinese and African media and enterprises to pool the wisdom of the Chinese and African think tanks.

Source: www.africachinacentre.org