African businesses break ground at Chinese expo

African exporters made substantial inroads at this year's China International Import Expo, which was held in Shanghai in November, marking a valuable opportunity for the continent's businesses to access the world's second-largest economy.

Experts say that despite being an international expo, this year's event showed more commitment to promoting South-South cooperation, leaving Africa as one of the biggest beneficiaries. They noted that this year's expo featured at least 37 least-developed countries and the event organizers provided more than 120 free exhibition booths specifically for businesses from these countries.

Tito Mutai, the chief executive at Agri-Africa Expo, a Kenyan governmental agency in the Ministry of Agriculture said that this year's event came on the heels of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in September in Beijing where China specifically announced zero tariffs for 100 percent tariff lines for 33 African countries making the Expo more attractive to Africa.

"At this year's FOCAC summit, China announced that it would unilaterally expand its trade with the continent by pledging support for African products. This has been on display at this year's expo judging by the number of new African products on exhibition this year," Mutai said.

During this year's expo, Madagascar's mutton products made their debut at the CIIE. Additionally, South Africa, whose first container load of avocados arrived in China for the first time in October also exhibited the fruit for the first time at this year's expo. Tanzania, which recently shipped its first 24 metric tons of avocados to China in November, also made a debut at this year's expo with its honey.

Mutai said that under FOCAC, certification, inspection and quarantine processes for African agricultural products have been expedited while tariff exemptions have been expanded, thereby benefiting players in the continent's agricultural sector, especially coffee, avocado and dairy products.

These measures have greatly boosted Africa's exports to China and in the first three quarters of this year, Africa's exports to China reached $87 billion, a 10 percent year-on-year increase, he said.

The increase in trade between Africa and China can also be measured by the fact that several African countries are increasingly establishing liaison offices in China to facilitate trade.

Sustained growth

Fredrick Mukilya, the chief representative of Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry to China, said that Sino-African economic and trade cooperation has experienced sustained growth, unleashing benefits to the continent, including the growth of local manufacturing, skills transfer and jobs for the youth.

The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry decided to open a China Branch Office located in Changsha, China last year to help link up investors and traders from both sides.

"We are confident that our presence in China will open up new opportunities for Kenyan businesses and entrepreneurs and contribute to the growth of our nation's economy," Mukilya said.

Experts also pointed out that collaborative events like the CIIE have increased cooperation between China and Africa on the financial sector front.

Speaking to Xinhua News Agency before this year's expo, Philip Myburgh, group head of trade at South Africa's Standard Bank said that Africa could benefit from more foreign exchange while exports to China could be a critical contributor to Africa's economic growth.

Over the last two decades, China has become sub-Saharan Africa's largest bilateral trading partner. About 20 percent of the region's exports now go to China and about 16 of Africa's imports come from China, according to the International Monetary Fund.