China and Kenya have a time-honoured friendship and have jointly completed a number of flagship projects in connectivity, significantly contributing to regional economic and social development. Kenya stands out as a success story in China’s partnership with Africa. Kenyan President William Ruto led a delegation to China to attend the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing early September.  ChinAfrica had the pleasure to speak to a distinguished member of President Ruto’s delegation, Musalia Mudavadi, prime cabinet secretary…

On a cool, sunny autumn day in Beijing, some 30 officials, experts and technicians from 17 Belt and Road countries, including Brazil, Thailand, Uganda, Egypt and Jordan, gathered at the city’s prestigious Tsinghua University to discuss climate change cooperation. Held on 2 September, just before the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the 2024 Seminar on Climate Finance also benefitted from the participation of the African attendees, who shared their perspectives on China-Africa climate cooperation.  Sharing experiences …

Hasnaine Yavarhoussen, CEO of Groupe Filatex, the leading private energy producer in Madagascar, travelled to Beijing on the occasion of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). As a key economic player in Madagascar and the African continent, Groupe Filatex participated in this high-level forum as part of the official Malagasy economic delegation. This participation also allowed Groupe Filatex to explore new partnership opportunities in its areas of strategic expertise across the African continent.   Yavarhoussen notably attended…

The new Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is set to be held on 4-6 September, which will outline the measures of China-Africa cooperation in the next three years and beyond. Before this event, on 15 August, a seminar themed The Governance of China: Forging a Closer China-Africa Community of Shared Future was held in Pretoria, South Africa, by CICG Centre for Europe and Africa, which was attended by more than 70 participants, including South African and…

Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, has said that Africa has gained much from China’s economic development, particularly due to its reform and opening up policy. China inspires African nations in their quest for national renewal and creates new development prospects through mutually beneficial cooperation. Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2000 and the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, exchanges between the two sides have intensified. Platforms such as the China-Africa Economic…

Workers at a kitchen appliances manufacturer use robotic arms to make a pot in less than five minutes; dock workers use levers in an office to accurately grab and move containers; and doctors operate auxiliary robot systems to perform complex surgical operations with just a flick of their fingers …   In Shanghai, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a common sight in numerous fields including smart production, smart finance, and smart cities, and is profoundly changing people’s lifestyles. AI and other…

Humanoid robots have become a familiar sight, particularly in science fiction films where they are often depicted as omnipotent beings. They are capable of caring for our families in real time, offering emotional companionship and even protecting Earth on our behalf. Thanks to unprecedented technological advances on a global scale, some of these science fiction scenarios are beginning to become reality.  The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information  Technology published the Directive on the Innovative Development of Humanoid Robots at…

When the young Africans visiting China to attend the 8th China-Africa Youth Festival were offered the choice of a seven-hour bullet train ride or a two-hour plane journey to travel from Beijing to the city of Jinhua in east China’s Zhejiang Province, they chose the train. They didn’t want to waste a single chance to fulfil the most important purpose of their visit: to experience the country as much as possible.  The festival is a project based on the consensus…

Seven years ago, Uganda’s only international airport Entebbe International Airport was in a dilapidated state, desperately in need of structural repair and an upgrading of all its facilities.  Since its construction in 1928 and its launch on 10 November 1951, no major work had ever been done on the airport and that led to most of the buildings becoming dilapidated, with leaking roofs and the facilities like the cargo centre becoming too small to handle the ever-increasing amount of freight.  …

Exports of Chinese satellites, joint construction of space infrastructure, and joint research and development of satellites … The recent years have seen substantial growth in China-Africa cooperation in the space sector, which is bringing tangible benefits to both sides.  Since space utilisation is a highly technology- and capital-intensive industry, partnerships with capable players like China are essential for Africa to develop its space capabilities. Egypt, one of the most active countries in Africa in the sector, stands as a good…