China-Africa relations through young eyes

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Aug 31, 2024, 21:57 ET

BEIJING, Aug. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --An eastern civilization boasting a history of 5,000 years; a fertile continent nurturing humanity. Throughout the ages, China and Africa have enjoyed a relationship that has continued to regenerate itself. With the latest summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to be held in September, young Chinese and their African counterparts are engaging in lively dialogue, looking forward to a bright future for China-Aftica collaboration.

The third episode of the fourth season of Youth Power, titled "Empowering the Future: China and Africa's Youth in Action", was netcast on Aug 30. In it, young people from China, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and elsewhere gathered to compare and contrast their many rich customs and cultures, reviewing their countries' brilliant achievements and exploring new opportunities for China-Africa collaboration.

Africa is often viewed as a single entity, with people lacking understanding of each country's unique characteristics. The Gen Zers who took part in the program discussed some of their countries' particularities, for example, by viewing an aerial shot of the wildebeest migration in Kenya, bird watching in the mountains of Uganda, football matches involving Cameroonians and movies produced in Nollywood in Nigeria. Africa truly is a cultural melting pot. In addition to internationally recognized official languages such as English and French, some African countries have more than 250 ethnic groups speaking more than 500 languages.

The Chinese language is also gaining popularity in the continent. "There's also the Confucius Institute in my country that has really helped to bridge the culture gap between Kenya and Chinese culture," said Calvin Nyagudi from Kenya. Many large Chinese-led infrastructure projects are being realized in Africa. Uzodinma Gerlof from Nigeria lauded an oil refinery in his country built in collaboration with China, which could greatly reduce the domestic price of oil.

The Mombasa-Nairobi Railway and the Tanzania-Zambia Railway are two other projects among many others that have been welcomed for improving the lives of locals in very practical, measurable ways. Jenny Andrea from Cameroon said, "Infrastructure does promote a better movement of goods, and it also helps with culture."

Fathiya Mohamed Said from Tanzania said: "In terms of healthcare in Africa, there's such (a lot) that we need to catch up with. We have a lot of African students that are going to (various) parts of the world to study medicine. … We are still receiving humanitarian aid from different parts of the world. Chinese medical teams play a huge role in improving the lives of people."

Zhong Yutong, the host, said the pandemic underlined how interconnected the world is. "It's important to make sure that people who are most in need of medical resources are not left behind," Zhong said, and that exchanges of medical personnel, healthcare equipment and medicine between China and Africa have greatly improved people's lives.

Infrastructure projects, technological exchanges and talent cultivation all embody the philosophy that teaching someone to fish is better than giving that person fish, and reflecting the spirit of China-Africa collaboration characterized by sincere friendship and equality. Aid to Africa is not a waste of resources, nor is it a debt trap, participants said, but rather an act of kindness and mutual advancement. Sheik Osman Seisay from Sierra Leone said, "If you say something is a trap, it means you are going into something that you don't know the details of. But in fact documents will be presented to you to look at closely."

Calvin Nyagudi said, "China has the same history almost with Africa. Even in bad times when a country cannot pay off the loan, China still strengthens the bilateral relationship." The Gen Zers who took part in the program said that when China offers aid or when its companies are commercially involved in Africa it never seeks to expand its political control or change governments.

For the coming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the participants voiced high hopes and talked enthusiastically about their topics of interest. Nyagudi said he hoped to draw on the business models of Taobao Villages and Pinduoduo to establish an online direct sales platform for African farmers. At the summit he will continue to focus on alleviating poverty, e-commerce and industrial park collaboration, he said. Sarah Marjorey Kisakye said her main interest is education. "As someone who's involved with non-government organizations and in line with diplomacy, I hope to form a network with youths who have gone back home from China."

Taking the forum as an opportunity, Chinese and African Gen Zers will undoubtedly deepen collaboration in various fields such as trade, education and training, and climate change, ensuring that China-Africa relations are further cemented.

Youth Power, organized by China Daily and first broadcast in June 2021, aims to build a global platform of communication and exchange, focusing on the interests and ideas of Generation Z. The program comes in the form of interviews, forums and speeches, with topics related to anything of current interest in the world.

SOURCE China Daily