Reclaiming Africa's right to development
China-South Africa dialogue sheds light on people-centered modernization for the Global South
The right to development should no longer be treated as a distant aspiration or something competing against political and civil rights. In contemporary times, development is one of the principal means through which human dignity, equality, freedom and human capabilities are realized. However, what kind of development, modernization and international cooperation can improve the lives of ordinary people? This was the central question discussed at the 2026 China-South Africa Human Rights Seminar.
This question is especially urgent because the world is undergoing profound economic, technological, geopolitical and social transformations. The international system is changing; the global economy is being reshaped; and new technologies are transforming production, governance and social relations. Climate change is creating new vulnerabilities, while millions of people in developing countries continue to confront poverty, unemployment, inequality, inadequate infrastructure and limited access to quality education, healthcare and economic opportunity. Against this background, human rights cannot be understood narrowly. While political and civil freedoms remain indispensable, for many people in the Global South, the right to live with dignity is inseparable from the right to education, healthcare, decent work, food, energy, housing, connectivity and meaningful participation in economic and social life.
Political freedom requires a social foundation and South Africa's sociopolitical history gives this argument particular resonance. The country's democratic Constitution places human dignity, equality and freedom at the center of the national project. However, its lived experience also demonstrates that political freedom cannot be sustained in conditions of extreme poverty, mass unemployment and structural inequality. Democracy must deliver more than the right to vote. It must also expand people's ability to live secure, productive and fulfilling lives. It requires schools that function well, hospitals that are accessible, public transport that is reliable, communities that are safe and an economy that creates equal opportunities for all. A person who is denied education, healthcare or employment may formally possess political rights, but his or her ability to exercise those rights is severely constrained as opposed to a person with access to skills, technology and decent work, who gains greater capacity to shape his or her future than one excluded from economic opportunity. A community with reliable electricity, water, transport, healthcare and digital connectivity has greater ability to participate in society than one deprived of these necessities. Development, therefore, is not separate from human rights as it creates the material and institutional conditions within which human rights become meaningful.
This does not mean that development should be used to excuse abuses or suppress political freedoms, but rather that it must be judged by its capacity to respond to public demands and give effect to the human right to participate in decisions affecting people's lives and to secure basic needs for all without exclusion. The real challenge is not to choose between development and human rights. It is to ensure that development itself becomes an instrument for expanding human freedom and dignity.
China's experience provides an important case for reflection. Over several decades, it has undergone a remarkable process of economic and social transformation involving poverty reduction, infrastructure development, industrialization, technological advancement and improvements in public services. South Africa and other African countries should engage with China's experience, not to copy it, but to share experiences, lessons and practical cooperation while retaining the policy space necessary to respond to their own national circumstances. There is no single model of modernization suitable for every country and African nations must retain the sovereign right to pursue development strategies consistent with their histories, institutions, cultures, resources and aspirations without undue pressure from bilateral or multilateral arrangements.
International trade must go beyond the export of raw materials and import of finished products and contribute to industrialization, technology transfer, skills development, infrastructure, value addition and employment in Africa. For a long time, Africa's trade agreements with Western states demonstrated this challenge. The core problem is that many external trade arrangements address access to markets, while Africa's deeper challenge is the capacity to produce competitively, add value and trade within an integrated African market. Without productive transformation, preferential access may reinforce a pattern in which Africa exports more but remains concentrated in low-value and vulnerable activities.
The recent decision by China to extend a zero-tariff policy for all products from 53 African countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations creates new possibilities. But opportunities do not automatically become development. African countries must have the factories, infrastructure, skills, finance and standards systems needed to use such opportunities. The focus must therefore move beyond the volume of trade toward quality, structure and developmental impact. How can trade support industrialization? How can African value chains be built? How can young Africans acquire the skills required by future industries? These are not merely economic questions. They are questions about the right to work, the right to opportunity and the right to development.
Climate change presents another test of whether development will be pursued equitably. Africa contributes relatively little to global emissions, yet African societies remain highly vulnerable to droughts, floods, food insecurity and other climate-related shocks. At the same time, Africa cannot simply be told to abandon its developmental aspirations. As the green transition gathers pace, it must not become another form of inequality in which developing countries bear the costs while wealthy economies control the technologies and financing. It must protect jobs, livelihoods, energy security and the development rights of poorer countries. As Africa and China deepen their cooperation in access to green technologies through renewable energy, electric mobility, green manufacturing and sustainable infrastructure, these partnerships should prioritize local capabilities, skills transfer and long-term development rather than merely the delivery of equipment.
Artificial intelligence, big data, digital platforms and smart cities can improve public administration, healthcare, education and service delivery. But technology also raises serious questions about privacy, accountability, access, digital exclusion and the protection of individual rights. Modernization must therefore remain anchored in human dignity and digital systems should make public services more accessible rather than deepen exclusion.
China and South Africa share important commitments to multilateralism, common development and a more representative international order. As members of BRICS and influential voices in the Global South, China and South Africa should cooperate to contribute to a global system in which development is not the privilege of a few countries. Developing states need greater access to finance, technology, markets and knowledge through partnerships and institutions that deliver concrete development projects.
The right to development becomes meaningful when it is translated into classrooms, clinics, jobs, electricity, connectivity, food security and productive industries. Modernization becomes legitimate when it expands human capabilities and leaves no community behind. The task before China, South Africa and the wider Global South is therefore both ambitious and practical: to build a form of development that strengthens freedom, a form of cooperation that respects agency, and a form of modernization that places people at its center.
The author is an associate professor of political science and international relations and the director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.
