Two sessions: What's in it for Africa?

Many lessons can be learned from China's approach to its economy - and Belt and Road offers promising opportunities

The curtain recently came down on the 2017 annual Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Known as the two sessions, this legislative event is a salient developmental agenda-setter for the world's second-largest economy.

The crucial document that African policymakers, implementers and analysts should be focusing on is the Government Work Report released by Premier Li Keqiang and adopted by the nearly 3,000 Chinese legislators.

It is clear that the Chinese economy is getting out of the doldrums it has faced in recent times. African policymakers would do well to look at how the country's leaders have managed to stabilize its economy over the last three years. The stabilization means that Africa-China economic engagements will take a new turn in new circumstances.

It is well appreciated that the rise of China to the position of leading economic partner with Africa is in part responsible for current optimism. The corollary is that African economic strategists must pay close attention to China's new plans, and there is no better place to start than a close reading of the China's 2017 blueprint.

Leafing through the report, the phrase "reform and opening-up" comes across as a recurrent theme. The point of note here for African policymakers is that reforming an economy to ensure that it is fit is not an event but a process, and a long-term one at that. African policymakers and implementers would do well to stay the course with their plans.

Across the continent, socioeconomic vision plans have been launched with pomp and ceremony only to be abandoned at the slightest hint of economic and political headwinds.

The Chinese report points out that China's economy "registered a slower but stable performance", growing at a respectable 6.7 percent. The message here is that it is OK for an economy to grow moderately - in Chinese terms - as long as the growth is on target and the pursuit of high growth does not change.

African economists would do well to readjust economic targets and projections on the basis of prevailing circumstances.

One of the strategies for the rejuvenation of the Chinese economy is to cut industrial overcapacity. Ordinarily, cutting overcapacity in industrial sectors reliant on African resources might alarm African economies that are reliant on mineral resources for national income. However, in the same breath, China rolled a $10 billion (9.3 billion euros; 8.9 billion) African industrialization initiative at the FOCAC triennial conference in 2015. This should see some Chinese industries migrate to African countries that demonstrate the requisite capacity to absorb these industries.

Of course, there would be concerns with some of the industries exporting some of the deleterious environmental challenges - such as air pollution - to Africa. However, mitigating factors are largely in place. China is itself implementing an array of environmental policies to tackle pollution. As a responsible international citizen, China would not deliberately seek to despoil the environment of a friendly region such as Africa.

Second, outbound Chinese companies are being called upon to adhere to the environmental regimes of the destination countries.

Third, China is a signatory to the 2015 Paris Climate Change and has indicated its adherence to the rubrics of the historic global deal.

With urban unemployment rates of over 4 percent in 2016, Chinese leaders would not worry if they were in Africa. Yet, a major focus of the Chinese economy in the coming months will be on arresting and reversing these comparatively low unemployment rates.

With unemployment rates well beyond 20 percent in most African countries, leaders are right to be concerned. How is China tackling unemployment? The report shows strategists have a clear picture of the number of young people entering the job market annually. This then guides decisions on ways and means of creating jobs. The major source of employment creation in China today is entrepreneurship, rather than absorption into the formal job market.

Africa's youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb, and leaders would do well to borrow from the Chinese strategy book to make startups the new economic drivers.

From innovation-driven development to investment in research and development, and on to the establishment of new industries, the message is that governments are better off unleashing a self-employment culture rather than attempting to employ people in established economic entities.

The major plan that African policymakers should particularly focus on is the Belt and Road Initiative. China is expected to be making massive investments in this development plan at home and abroad. The onus is on African leaders to carefully identify areas in which the initiative intersects with their own developmental needs.

Crucially, the initiative has kicked off in China itself with a series of infrastructure developments, including the construction of thousands of kilometers of roads and railways, and the establishment of special economic zones and information superhighways, to mention a few.

But Africa lags woefully behind in all these infrastructure sectors. The Belt and Road Initiative therefore presents an overarching opportunity for African countries to work with China in creating global networks that facilitate trade.

The writer is a postdoctoral fellow at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/24/2017 page9)