Building Blocks

African governments， not the Americans or the chinese， have the key responsibility to become the drivers of their own industrial and agricultural development. therefore， it is urgent that African governments prioritize the objectives of the Johannesburg summit of the Forum on china-Africa cooperation（FocAc） domestically and regionally. Funeka Yazini April， Research specialist of human sciences Research council of south Africa， shares her thoughts on whether or not industrialization and agricultural modernization in Africa can become a reality through FocAc.

A Coordinators Meeting of the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of FOCAC Johannesburg Summit was held in Beijing on July 28-29. The purpose of the meeting initialized by the co-chairs of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit， China and South Africa， was to take stock of the implementation of the 2016-18 Action Plan agreed in Johannesburg in December 2015. Of particular note was the implementation of the FOCAC Johannesburg Action Plans five pillars and the identified areas of cooperation within 10 major economic and trade domains. The dominating theme of the 2015 FOCAC Johannesburg Action Plan was the focus on industrialization and agricultural modernization which were proposed at the Johannesburg Summit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Steady progress According to this Coordinators Meeting， over the past six months， progress has already been made as a high-level internal African coordination mechanism has been set up among more than 30 countries to increase synergy with China for the implementation of the Summit outcomes. China， on the other hand， has established the China-Africa Production Capacity Cooperation Fund which is up and running with an initial contribution of $10 billion. The Special Loan for the Development of African SMEs has been bolstered with $5 billion of additional funding. According to State Councilor Yang Jiechi， who gave a keynote speech at the Coordinators Meetings opening ceremony， partial statistics indicate that China and Africa have signed over 180 various cooperation agreements with a total value of $32.5 billion since the Summit. Moreover， China has reached agreement with the African Union Commission on cooperation with the African Center for Disease Control and with countries such as South Africa， Egypt and Nigeria on scientific and technological cooperation.

The Coordinators Meeting is a very timely affair because implementation oversight is essential for any project to succeed. Particularly since the continent needs to strengthen its political will and capacity to meet the requirements nec- essary to industrialize.

The biggest challenge facing developmental growth in Africa in the 21st century is industrial development and it remains one of the key agencies for sustainable growth and development. The low level of industrial development on the continent creates a stumbling block for economic regional integration. More significantly， industrialization could promote the beneficiation of natural resources. While Africa is endowed with substantial deposits of the worlds most sought after mineral resources， the continent itself consumes very little of these resources. Instead it exports them as raw materials with little or no value addition.

Manufacturing Chinas commitment to assist the continent to industrialize， particularly in manu-facturing， is significant as it would help in job creation. The fact is Chinas planned off-shoring of manufacturing could also impact on small business development on the continent. The tragedy of Africas postindependence development trajectory is that most countries have dismally failed to cultivate a capable business class that can play a meaningful role in transforming local economies. By the end of 2012， Chinas investment in Africas manufacturing industry had reached $3.43 billion. Mali， Ethiopia and other resource-poor countries have also attracted a large amount of Chinese investment. In this respect， SinoAfrican partnerships have the potential to play an important role in fostering the future growth and development of African economies.

Agricultural exchange China has also pledged to share its experience in agricultural development with Africa and transfer its readily applicable technologies. China plans to carry out agricultural development projects in 100 African villages to raise rural living standards， send 30 teams of agricultural experts to Africa， and establish a “10+10” cooperation mechanism between Chinese and African agricultural research institutes. China will also provide 1 billion yuan （$150 million） of emergency food aid to the countries affected by El Nino. Chinese enterprises are encouraged to engage in large-scale farming， animal husbandry and grain storage and processing in Africa to create more local jobs and increase farmers income. China is a relevant partner in the continents trajectory growth as Chinese agriculture has been fundamentally important to the countrys growth as the worlds second largest economy. The fact is that though China only accounts for 10 percent of arable land worldwide， it currently employs more than 300 million farmers and ranks first in worldwide farm output， primarily producing rice， wheat， potatoes， peanuts， millet， barley and cotton.

Currently， Africa has enough land， water and human resources to feed itself and contribute toward meeting the growing global demand for both food staples and higher value-added food. Moreover， recent estimates suggest that Africa has the potential to increase the value of its annual agricultural output from about $280 billion（in the late 2000s） to around $800 billion by 2030. However， Africa is still the most foodinsecure continent.

Agricultural modernization is essential in addressing the current food insecurity on the continent， as it comprises a transition from subsistence agriculture to commodity agriculture， and a transition from industrialized agriculture to knowledge agriculture. The need to transform African agriculture and achieve food security has been reaffirmed by the African Union （AU）， as exemplified by the adoption of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program. Moreover， in 2010， the Executive Council of the AU endorsed the African Agribusiness and Agro-Industries Development Initiative which is aimed at bringing about highly productive and profitable agricultural value chains.

While agricultural modernization will address the food insecurity on the continent， environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly challenging. In addition， some African countries have become dependent on food aid in order to fill the food supply gap.

Is Africa ready？ Needless to say， a progressive continent that becomes more industrially viable will be a win-win for FOCAC from a political and socio-economic perspective. While some progress has been made the past six months， it is still critical that the continent demonstrates its readiness for implementation of the 10 Sino-African cooperation plans put forward at the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit.

According to South Africas International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane， the continent has the obligation to ensure the relevant levels of institutional readiness， capacities for delivery and feasibility of projects in order to meet the requirements of the FOCAC agreements and maximize the potential gains thereof. According to a report in Liberias Profile Daily， FOCAC is creating the platform for more opportunities to lead Africa to industrialization and agricultural modernization， and all African governments have to implement mechanisms that will bring reality to the FOCAC Johannesburg Action Plan. African governments， not the Americans or the Chinese， have the key responsibility to become the drivers of their industrial development and agricultural modernization. Therefore， in order for the 2015 Johannesburg Action plan to become a reality under FOCAC， and for the coordinators meetings to become effective， it is urgent that African governments prioritize the FOCAC industrial and agricultural objectives domestically and regionally， which would benefit all the people of Africa.