from "entering africa" to "deepening roots in africa", private enterprises have become a new force in investment in africa
2024-09-08
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"work together to promote modernization and build a community with a shared future." on september 7, the 2024 china-africa private economic cooperation forum, co-organized by the all-china federation of industry and commerce, the people's government of guangdong province, and the bank of china, was held in shenzhen, guangdong province. more than 250 guests from home and abroad discussed cooperation and talked about the future around the theme of "deepening china-africa practical cooperation and promoting africa's industrialization development."
what is the current situation of chinese private enterprises investing in africa? what are the new features? what challenges do they face? at the forum, wang xiaoyong, vice president of the china-africa chamber of commerce, released a special research report on the investment and cooperation of private enterprises in africa, focusing on the new opportunities brought to private enterprises by the development of china-africa relations, sharing the new features and trends of private enterprises in china-africa cooperation, and proposing suggestions to support private enterprises from "entering africa" to "deepening their roots in africa".
current situation and characteristics:
more than 70% of enterprises investing in africa are private enterprises
"at present, china has become the developing country with the largest investment in africa, and china-africa investment cooperation has grown steadily. by the end of 2022, china's direct investment in africa will exceed us$47 billion, and more than 3,000 chinese companies have invested and started businesses in africa." wang xiaoyong said that the participation of private enterprises in cooperation with africa has achieved remarkable growth, and africa has become one of the hot spots for chinese private enterprises to "go global" and conduct investment and operations. according to data from the ministry of commerce of china, more than 70% of chinese companies investing in africa are private enterprises. private enterprises have become the main force of investment in africa. among them, the investment and reinvestment flow of member companies of the china-africa private chamber of commerce in africa exceeds us$21 billion.
according to wang xiaoyong, chinese private enterprises' investment in africa shows a regional agglomeration effect. in east africa, it is mainly concentrated in kenya, tanzania and uganda; in southern africa, it is mainly concentrated in zambia, mozambique and angola; in west africa, it is mainly concentrated in ghana, nigeria and cote d'ivoire; in north africa, it is mainly concentrated in egypt and morocco; in central africa, it is mainly concentrated in congo (drc). private enterprises' investment in the above 12 african countries accounts for about 48% of the total investment of chinese private enterprises in africa.
in addition, the trend of "localization" of private enterprises' investment in africa is obvious. "private enterprises that have taken root in africa pay special attention to localized operations, and more and more local african employees have grown into managers and backbones of enterprises." wang xiaoyong gave an example, for example, the manufacturing plant of deer king cashmere in madagascar has more than 7,000 local employees and only 54 chinese employees.
"in recent years, private enterprises' investment in africa has also shown some new characteristics." according to wang xiaoyong, first, the investment projects of private enterprises in africa are "small but beautiful and benefit the people's livelihood". there are many small and medium-sized projects invested by private enterprises in africa, many of which involve the field of people's livelihood, and have become popular investment projects with a local market. second, private enterprises' investment in the construction of industrial parks in africa has become an important carrier for china-africa capacity cooperation. private enterprises have accumulated a lot of experience in investing in, building and operating industrial parks in africa, and have become an important carrier for private enterprises to invest in africa and participate in the joint construction of the "belt and road" between china and africa. third, private enterprises' investment in new fields and new formats in africa has continued to increase. with the rapid advancement of a new round of global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, private enterprises' investment in africa has expanded from traditional manufacturing, infrastructure, agricultural product processing, and trade to new fields such as medical care, transportation and logistics, and e-commerce. chinese private enterprises are actively participating in the construction of the african industrial system by expanding investment and cooperation in new fields, and promoting the quality and upgrading of africa's industrialization.
challenges and suggestions:
expand the pilot of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones and their overseas warehouses in guangdong and other places
wang xiaoyong also pointed out that private enterprises currently face challenges in investing in africa, such as insufficient policy stability in some local countries, more intensified competition among enterprises in various countries, and the need to improve the cross-border business capabilities of private enterprises.
in order to better respond to these challenges, wang xiaoyong believes that private enterprises’ investment in africa must achieve high-quality and sustainable development, strengthen their risk prevention and control and mitigation capabilities, enhance their international competitiveness, and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of their investment in africa.
specifically, wang xiaoyong suggested that in order to enhance risk prevention and control and mitigation capabilities, private enterprises should improve their internal governance mechanisms and establish an organizational foundation for various risk controls; improve the corporate budget system and reserve sufficient "reservoirs" for risk prevention; government departments can establish a normalized information sharing mechanism with enterprises, and improve private enterprises' risk prevention and control awareness and capabilities through policy promotion and training.
in terms of enhancing international competitiveness, we will promote the cultivation of leading enterprises in china-africa cooperation to play a leading and radiating role; provide financial, information, legal and other service support to private enterprises investing in africa, and guide them to develop more products that are closer to the needs and characteristics of african consumers; give full play to the role of business associations, encourage them to conduct dialogues and exchanges with international organizations, and provide good support for the overseas development of private enterprises.
in terms of transformation and upgrading, we will encourage and guide private enterprises in emerging industries such as green energy, medical services, and digital economy to actively "go overseas"; strengthen the construction of cross-border e-commerce, expand the pilot projects of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones and their overseas warehouses in guangdong, zhejiang, and hunan; guide private enterprises to deeply integrate into the construction of local value chains in africa, and promote the brand building of private enterprises in africa.
text/guangzhou daily new flower city reporter: xu wenwen correspondent guangdong business newsphoto: zhang lei, china business timesguangzhou daily new flower city editor: li fenghe
