Chinese President Xi Jinping will host the ninth Forum on China-African Co-operation Summit on Thursday (4 August) to encourage the 50 African nations in attendance to purchase more of its renewable energy technologies, according to Reuters.
In exchange for purchasing its clean energy technologies, China pledges to increase loans and investments across the continent.
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The Asian nation aims to increase its green energy tech exports before Western tariffs, mainly on EVs and solar panels, kick in.
However, unfulfilled pledges from the previous summit in 2021 could prevent collaboration with some African countries. For instance, China has yet to purchase $300bn worth of goods from the continent as promised.
The country must also provide assurance on pledged infrastructure projects such as a railway link designed to connect China with the greater East-African region. Eric Olander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project, said: “The prize is going to go to those countries who have carefully studied the changes in China and align their proposals with China’s new slimmed-down priorities.
“That’s a big ask for a continent that generally has very poor China literacy.”
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By GlobalDataAs tariffs on Chinese exports draw closer, President Xi Jinping’s government has placed priority on buyers for its EVs and solar infrastructure in emerging markets.
According to Boston University’s Global Development Policy Centre, the total amount of loans China offered to Africa equalled $4.6bn in 2023, the highest since 2019, with $500mn for the deployment of hydropower and solar infrastructure.
President Xi Jinping is expected to meet with leaders from Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe to discuss China’s green industry. The only African nation that will not be in attendance is Eswatini.
China will also want to discuss increasing its trade and access to raw materials such as copper, cobalt and lithium in countries like Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe but will be cautious around funding commitments due to debt restructuring in economies such as Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia, Reuters reported.
To not lose all market share in Africa to China, the US, UK, Italy, Russia and South Korea have all hosted summits with African leaders regarding renewable development.
