尼日利亚:因北京峰会而振奋
文 | 智宇琛 中国社会科学院西亚非所南非研究中心副秘书长
编辑 | 杨海霞
导读:
北京峰会的重要背景是中国面对全球经济形势变化所采取的全方位开放措施。中国与非洲将在各方面展开更为广泛和深入的融合,构建面向全球的价值链和产业链体系。其中,借助“八大行动计划”,非洲的农业及农产品加工业、服务业、基础设施以及电子商务等行业将迎来投资的新机遇。
在中国全方位开放、加快“一带一路”建设和非洲加速现代化进程的背景下,中非将共同构建优势互补、面向全球的价值链和产业链体系。
● 全方位开放背景下非投资合作趋势
●“一带一路”建设下中非“三大通道”建设
2018年9月,习近平主席在北京举行的中非合作论坛(FOCAC)峰会开幕式上做主旨发言,宣布中国对非洲新的计划和政策措施,这充分表明,这一世界第二大经济体将与非洲大陆展开更加紧密的合作。
吸引中国的制造业投资
中国公布的一项政策是,中国将扩大进口非洲商品,特别是非资源性商品和产品。这非常符合尼日利亚的愿望。习近平主席在中非合作论坛峰会上提出了在未来三年要实现的八大行动目标,这对非洲国家的经济发展非常有益,包括从非洲大陆进口更多的产品和非资源性商品。由于中国具备较高的工业生产能力,因此,目前中国与非洲之间的贸易不平衡的现象比较严重。而通过实施这一政策,不仅能够缩小双方间的差距,还可以为非洲国家创造更多的就业机会。
尼日利亚工业委员会成员奥比·艾泽德(Obi·Ezeude)是尼日利亚的一位制造商,他对中国的经济政策和发展走向非常关注。在聆听了习主席的讲话后,他说这是中国政府在中非关系发展方面又向前迈出的一步。他认为,尼日利亚政府应当迅速采取措施利用这一政策,为尼日利亚的商人创造获益的机会,因为,这些政策为非洲和中国的制造商提供了合作的可能,所以应当抓住时机吸引中国的企业家们到非洲投资建业。
他说,“这项政策太令人振奋了。中国的制造业水平远远领先于尼日利亚,因此,两国间的贸易存在很大的逆差。因为你需要先拥有产品,然后再可以考虑出售。所以,只有当我们也开始大量生产后,才可能减少双方在贸易上的差距。当这项政策得以落实后,非洲就可以使其拥有的原材料实现增值,并且为更多的人提供工作的机会。而中国也可以向非洲出售工业设备,并考虑将其生产基地转移到非洲。”
巴里·乌巴(Barry·Uba)先生是一位工程师和市场营销专家,他也认为如果这项政策能够实施,中国肯定会将更多的制造业转移到非洲,从而减少非洲向中国出口原材料。他说,“如果这样的话,中国就真正帮助非洲实现了工业化。当然,我们不能只实现工业化,却没有市场来消费其生产出的产品。不过,在现阶段,尼日利亚和整个非洲都需要中国先将其生产基地迁往非洲。”
Chuwkwudi Uchegbu是尼日利亚的一位记者兼编辑,他感兴趣的是,习主席不仅承诺向非洲提供600亿美元的资金援助,而且还明确表示要监督这些资金的使用过程。他说,“仅仅提供资金确实是不够的,因为许多政府不知道应当怎样合理地使用这些资源。这是非洲国家中的一个普遍现象。因此,中国应当进一步采取措施,确保资金合理审慎地使用。我还建议中国方面更多地关注私营部门的生产性融资,也就是说把钱用于企业而不是给政府。因为商人讲求赢利,所以贷款给他们更能得到有效使用,进而达到消除贫困的目的。”
这些观点表明,尼日利亚的多方人士对这次峰会高度关注,他们越来越意识到,中非合作论坛对非洲经济发展起到的作用,而且在非洲获益的同时,也可以对中国产生积极影响。
中非合作论坛:激励非洲
中非合作论坛期间,我一直随会进行采访报道,并且在人文交流方面也有许多收获。因为我们的媒体主要负责宣传和增进双方之间的友谊,我在论坛举办过程中与中国的媒体机构和同行们进行了颇有成效的交流,并建立了联系。
中非合作论坛召开前后的二十多天时间里,一直是世界媒体聚焦的重要事件。它之所以引起这么大的关注,原因是显而易见的,因为世界上再没有哪个国家能每隔三年就把这么多国家首脑召集在一起,共谋发展大计。中非合作论坛现在有55个成员,包括中国和非洲联盟。中国一举让几乎整个非洲都云集北京足见其具有多么大的影响力。
从数量上看,中非合作论坛是世界上独立经营的最大的多边外交机构,而且它连接的是两个完全不同的世界。
西方世界,特别是美国,总是认为中国在试图从他们那里争夺对世界的领导权,或者企图操纵世界,而且他们对此不能容忍或接受。
中非合作论坛召开期间我始终密切关注。自上届峰会于2015年在南非约翰内斯堡举办以来,中国一直信守诺言,通过两个主要的金融平台向非洲国家提供贷款和赠款。这两个金融平台是中国进出口银行和国家开发银行,后者是中国非洲发展基金(CADFund)的监管机构,其基础资金已经从最初的50亿美元增加到现在的100亿美元。2016年7月31日,非洲一些国家的领导人在北京参加约翰内斯堡论坛的评估会后前往苏州工业园参观,目的是为了激励他们也能像中国一样取得那样的发展成就。
从我第一次与中国接触开始,也包括参加这次论坛,我从未发现任何令人信服的证据可以证明,中国有通过中非合作论坛和贷款方案达到征服非洲大陆的企图。而且我也不认为非洲国家会愚蠢到不知道他们究竟想要得到什么。
我坚信,随着时间的考验,中非合作论坛一定能够显现出它所起的作用,并且更加发展壮大,取得更大的成就。
⬆尼日利亚河流州工业港口
英文版:
Nigerians excited about last FOCAC 2018 Summit economic agenda
Author | Ikenna Emewu,Editor-in-Chief of the AFRI-CHINA MEDIA CENTRE Nigeria
The keynote speech of President Xi Jinping to open the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September announced new plans and policy measures through which the world’s second largest economy would better her engagement with the African continent.
One of such policies is that China would increase her import of African products, especially non-resource or finished goods. This resonated with Nigerians.
President Xi had stated in the new eight-point objective of the FOCAC in the next three years that China would encourage the economic development of African countries by importing more finished or non-resource commodities from the continent.
Through that resolve, the trade imbalance between China and Africa which is logically in favour of China due to her higher industrial production capacity would be narrowed down with more economic opportunities created for Africa.
After listening to President Xi, Obi Ezeude, a major manufacturer and member of the Nigerian Industrial Council said it’s a great step for good.
Ezeude, a keen follower of the Chinese economy said he was happy that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari was at the event and urged that the government of Nigeria keys into the policy and creates the opportunities for Nigerian businesspeople to benefit from it because it will facilitate investment and manufacturing partnership between African and Chinese manufacturers, thereby making it possible for Chinese businesspersons to set up industries in Africa.
“The announcement excites. China is far ahead of Nigeria in manufacturing and the trade imbalance has been heavily in favour of China because you should first have products before they are bought. We can only close that gap when we manufacture and process. The policy if implemented would enable Africa add value to her raw materials and also create jobs and expertise while also opening markets for China to sell her industrial hardware and also create offshore production opportunities.”
An engineer and marketing expert, Mr. Barry Uba, said if the policy is followed through, it is an assured way China would more than before encourage industrial production in Africa and reduce the heavy export of raw materials from the continent into China for processing.
“If implemented, it means China has genuine resolve to assist Africa industrialize. Again, we can’t just attain industrialization without a market to consume the products or the technical capacity. On that note, Nigeria and Africa would still rely on China by moving her production base to Africa.
A Nigerian journalist and editor, Chuwkwudi Uchegbu said his interest is mainly the promise by President Xi that China would not only provide funding of $60b for the period but further monitor the utilization. “It is not enough to provide fund for governments that have not been so strong in implementation and utilization of resources and this is common in African countries.
“So, China should take further steps to ensure utilization and prudence as promised. I would also advise that China focuses more in financing production by the private sector players. Let the financing go to businesspersons and not governments. Because businesspeople are out for profit, they are better managers and loans given to them have higher assurance of utilization and creation of further resources to eliminate poverty.”
These views imply that Nigerian stakeholders keenly watched the summit and more aware of FOCAC and the promises it holds for the development of the economy of the country Nigeria and Africa and also how the benefits would impact on China.
I have followed FOCAC myself and a beneficiary of the human resource development of the forum, and with our media basically to push the awareness of the friendship of the two sides, I took away some points from the event which our media reported effectively liaising with partner Chinese media organizations.
FOCAC was the most dominant media issue worldwide two weeks before and about a week after it held. The reason for such bloated attention is quite obvious. There is no other country of the world that aggregates such large pool of diplomatic friends under one roof every three years. FOCAC has 55 members, including China and of course the African Union, So, it commands great influence that one country would move the entire Africa in one fell swoop to Beijing. Of course the UN is run by five major countries that make up the Security Council and some smaller affiliates, and not an exclusive preserve of the US.
By number, FOCAC is the largest stand-alone multilateral diplomatic body connecting two different and disparate worlds.
The West and especially the US never speak tongue in cheek that China angles to wrest leadership, or manipulation of the world from them and they are not ready to brook such daring incursion.
I keenly watched and waited for the FOCAC summit to end before making any comment to be fully informed of how it played out.
At least since the 2015 FOCAC in Johannesburg, China had pursued funding of African nations in loans and grants through two major financial platforms – the China EXIM Bank and the China Development Bank that is custodian of the China Africa Development Fund (CADFund) with capital base of $10b from an initial $5b.
On July 31, 2016, the Director General of the African Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mr. Lin Songtian, now Chinese Ambassador to South Africa fielded questions from 28 African journalists at the Kempinsky Hotel, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
That was after the tour of the Suzhou Industrial Park by the team of African leaders that visited Beijing for the evaluation meeting of the Johannesburg FOCAC the previous year. The visit was to inspire them to develop like China.
With my firsthand interaction with China, including this event, I still have not found it convincing that China through FOCAC and loans plans to subjugate the continent. Neither would I be swayed that African countries are such daft in today’s world not to know what they want.
I believe FOCAC has shown tenacity and productivity over time and must be encouraged to get stronger and achieve more.
⬆Passengers board the carriage to take their seats inside one of the coaches of the newly commissioned Abuja light rail train in Abuja, Nigeria