africa

Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
scholarships for African students and to provide short-term training for 30,000 professionals,
although there was no indication of the time period for realization of this
pledge. Chinese companies like Huawei and CCECC have built training centers in
Kenya and Nigeria.
18.3 Changes in the cooperation framework and expectations for the future
Since 2000, the official framework of cooperation for China-Africa economic engagement
has been negotiated every three years as part of the Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation (FOCAC). Commitments of official Chinese finance are usually announced
at these meetings, which also report on outcomes of earlier commitments. The
FOCAC summits, and speeches by Chinese leaders, provide a window into Chinese
thinking about the directions in which the engagement should shift. For example, in
response to concerns about the impact of Chinese goods on African enterprises,
the Chinese established the US$1 billion loan fund to support African SMEs.
Below we briefly discuss several issues where Chinese practice has noticeably
changed, and point out how this might affect future developments. We also provide
some analysis about recent trends in finance and suggest how this many affect the
future expansion of Chinese engagement.
18.3.1 Environment
At the 2009 FOCAC, Chinese leaders announced that they would fund 100 “clean
energy” projects in Africa from 2010 to 2012, a reflection of their awareness of
the importance of “green” issues. The learning curve on environmental issues is
steep in China. Chinese consumers continue to demand products and foods—for
example ivory, abalone, rhino horn—from endangered and protected animal species.
To address concerns about ivory smuggling, the Chinese joined in a large public
crushing in January 2014 of six tons of African ivory seized by Chinese customs.
Retired Chinese basketball star and environmentalist Yao Ming has been featured
in a number of ads to raise awareness of the plight of African elephants, while the
government sends cell phone messages to Chinese travelers to Africa to warn them
of the penalties for purchases of illegal wildlife products from Africa. The Beijing
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