Fruits of Samia’s trip to FOCAC 2024 Summit

THE FOCAC 2024 Summit that commenced on September 4th 2024 and concluded on September 6th, attracted 51 heads of State and government.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan who represented Tanzania to the Summit was given an honour to address the meeting.

In her speech, President Samia said, China is a true partner of African countries in their fight against poverty and pursuing prosperity.

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She expressed appreciation of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proposal to elevate the overall characterisation of China-Africa relations and the announcement of implementing 10 partnership action plans to jointly advance modernisation.

She said the partnership actions proposed by President Xi will support China and Africa in strengthening cooperation in various fields and advance modernisation.

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A quick observation shows President Samia’s trip was very successful and fruitful. One of the great achievements of the concluded Summit is the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to revive the TAZARA railway.

The MoU wa signed on 4th September 2024 and witnessed by President Samia, President Haikainde Hichilema of Zambia and President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China.

The agreement follows China’s proposal made in February 2024 to invest 1 billion US dollars to revitalise the railway. Understandably, the revitalisation of TAZARA is expected to boost its cargo and passenger transport ability and will increase its efficiency.

Along with the signing of the agreement, President Samia and President Xi held talks on the sidelines of the FOCAC meeting where the two leaders emphasised and promised to further strengthen and maintain the friendship established by the founders of the two countries, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere and President Mao Zedong.

In addition, they emphasised that the two sides should strengthen exchange of experience in governance, enhance political and strategic mutual trust and deepen mutually beneficial practical cooperation.

In his speech, President Xi Jinping said that, China and Tanzania friendship is rooted in the solidarity between the older generation of leaders of the two countries during the struggle for liberation, developed through mutual respect and mutual trust in the pursuit of national rejuvenation and strengthened as they march forward together on the path to modernisation.

President Xi expressed China’s commitment and readiness to work with Tanzania to comprehensively advance and deepen the ChinaTanzania comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, so that China-Tanzania relationship can yield more benefits to the two peoples and pass on the traditional friendship to next generations.

For her part, President Samia acknowledged the fact that China is Tanzania’s reliable and indispensable partner, pointing out that CCM has a brotherly friendship with the Communist Party of China and that Tanzania is ready to make good use of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership school in deepening training on party building and exchange of experience on state governance with China and constantly expand practical cooperation in various fields.

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According to President Xi’s speech, it is clear that China wants to strengthen its strategic cooperation with Tanzania and is ready to help in all economic spheres, especially in the sectors of agriculture, industry, infrastructure, energy and green economy which are the catalyst for economic development.

Along with the TAZARA railway, President Xi promised that China will cooperate with Tanzania to improve the East African SeaRail combined transport network and make Tanzania a demonstration zone for deepening China-Africa high quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, a confirmation on how China is committed to helping Tanzania industrialise and modernise.

In efforts to make Tanzania a demonstration zone for BRI, China is ready to assist in the construction of strategic infrastructure and turn Tanzania into an example and centre of infrastructure in Africa.

According to President Xi’s statement, there is a need for the government to revive the plans for the construction of the Bagamoyo Port.

It is important to note that for Tanzania to achieve the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs, AU Agenda 2063 and the country’s Vision 2050 goals, currently under preparation, it must first bridge its infrastructure gap by building vital developmental infrastructures in the areas of transport, energy, communication, health, education, water etc.

The construction of the infrastructure requires a lot of money that must borrowed from western financial institutions and other international lending organisation. In many cases, the loans provided by western financial organisations are always accompanied by stringent conditions and thus leading many countries to lack creditworthiness.

Therefore, many African countries including Tanzania are expecting more on China to help in fulfilling the mission. They believe and have much hope that China can facilitate access to loans with low interest and without strict conditions.

It should be noted that, one of the AU agenda 2063 requires all member countries to complete or reduce their infrastructure gap by at least 90 per cent by 2050. According to African Development Bank’s estimates, Africa’s need for infrastructure funding is between 130 billion and 170 billion US dollars annually.

With this estimate, it is clear that, in 39 years from now to 2063, the amount of money that is required to achieve the goals of AU Agenda 2063 is almost 5.07 to 6.6 trillion US dollars and within the same period, each country will have to spend at least 100 to 122.7 billion US dollars to complete or bridge its infrastructure gap.

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This means, Tanzania too, will need at least 2.5 3.1 billion US dollars every year to bridge its infrastructure gap. So, African countries should turn more on China so that they can benefit from its low interest and unconditional loans. I believe that China can and will play an important role in facilitating access for infrastructure construction funding.

According to AfDB and other reports from various institutions, China contributes more than 30 per cent of all infrastructures financing in Africa.

Thus, China is a major partner in the construction of developmental infrastructures in the continent and has committed to help African countries bridge their infrastructure deficit and achieve their sustainable development goals. In regard to the Belt and Road Initiative ‘‘BRI’’, Tanzania should make good use of the promises made by President Xi Jinping to make Tanzania a demonstration zone for deepening China-Africa high quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative to benefit from the money allocated for infrastructure financing.

It should be understood that, the rehabilitation of the TAZARA railway is among the strategic projects that will be implemented under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Therefore, Tanzania has a great chance to benefit more through China’s commitment to help facilitate access for infrastructure funding The revival of the TAZARA Railway will increase its efficiency and carrying capacity of more than 5,000 tons of cargo and 3 million passengers per year.

After its completion, the TAZARA Railway will be the main commercial and freight link between Tanzania, Zambia and DRC.

(The writer is a Dar es Salaam-based analyst on international politics and foreign relations. Email: cleophacegeorge@gmail.com)