China to pitch green tech exports to African leaders as Western curbs loom
Beijing to host 2024 African summit from Wednesday to Friday
Aims to recalibrate economic, trade ties with Africa
Move comes as Western curbs on Chinese goods loom
African nations may not totally align with Beijing's aims
By Joe Cash and Duncan Miriri
BEIJING/NAIROBI, Sept 2 (Reuters) -China will urge a summit of 50 African nations in Beijing this week to take more of its goods, before Western curbs kick in on its exports such as electric vehicles and solar panels, in exchange for more pledges of loans and investment.
But the dozens of African leaders arriving in the Chinese capital for the three-yearly event may not be easy bait. They will want to hear how China plans to meet an unfulfilled pledge from the previous summit in 2021 to buy $300 billion of goods.
They will also seek assurances on the progress of incomplete Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, such as a railway designed to link the greater East African region.
"The prize is going to go to those countries who have carefully studied the changes in China and align their proposals with China's new slimmed-down priorities," said Eric Olander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project.
"That's a big ask for a continent that generally has very poor China literacy."
Africa's biggest two-way lender, investor and trade partner is moving away from funding big-ticket projects in the resource-rich continent, preferring instead to sell it the advanced and green technologies Chinese firms have invested in heavily.
As Western curbs on Chinese exports loom, Beijing's top priority will be finding buyers for its EVs and solar panels, areas where the U.S. and European Union say it has overcapacity, and building overseas production bases for emerging markets.
China has already started tweaking conditions for its loans to Africa, setting aside more for solar farms, EV plants and 5G Wi-Fi facilities, while cutting back on bridges, ports and railways.
Last year, China offered 13 loans of just $4.2 billion to eight African states and two regional banks, data from Boston University's Global Development Policy Centre showed, with about $500 million for hydropower and solar projects.
GEOPOLITICAL JOSTLING
When President Xi Jinping opens the ninth Forum on China-Africa Co-operation Summit on Thursday, he is expected to pitch plugging into China's burgeoning green energy industry to leaders from Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
In attendance will also be delegates from every African state except Eswatini, with which Beijing has no ties.
To avoid losing market share, China's geopolitical rival, the United States, has started to host African leaders.
Britain, Italy, Russia and South Korea have also held Africa summits in recent years, recognising the potential of the region's young people and its 54 U.N. seats.
China's outsized role as a financial and trade partner makes its meetings a far bigger deal, however.
"There is no other development partner that does that much," said Hannah Ryder, founder of Development Reimagined, an African-owned consultancy.
"But are African leaders able to push China to really dig in so that the balance of the 'win' is way more towards the African side?"
MATCHING WANTS AND NEEDS
China will want to talk up boosting trade and access to minerals like copper, cobalt and lithium in countries such as Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
But it could be cautious about more funding commitments following debt restructuring bids in economies such as Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia, since the 2021 summit.
"We are likely to see a continued prudence in terms of financing mega projects," said Lina Benabdallah, of the Centre for African Studies at Harvard University, adding that Beijing would push for technology transfers instead.
"I am most certainly keen to understand how many new finance commitments may come out of this, and how they're going to deal with existing debt to African countries," said Yvette Babb, portfolio manager at asset management firm William Blair.
But China's enthusiasm to lend might be dampened by security concerns, such as a spat between Niger and Benin that killed six Nigerien soldiers guarding a PetroChina-backed pipeline, or deadly protests in Kenya over tax hikes.
China's loans to Africa rise in 2023 https://reut.rs/3yZjZJH
Writing by Joe Cash; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務,允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容,但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限,並受以下條款與條例約束:(i)條款與條例;(ii)風險提示;(iii)完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊,僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意,我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成,也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料,僅適用於教育/資訊類用途,不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議,或是交易價格紀錄,或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容,包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接,皆爲‘按原狀’,並作爲一般市場評論所提供,而非投資建議。請理解和接受,所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容,並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性,而根據法律要求所編寫,而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊,相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。