Nigeria at FOCAC 2018

With the new pledges from the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Nigeria’s foreign debt is set to increase. However, Nigeria has no strategic plan to manage and repay Chinese loans.

Written by Oreva Olakpe

Sep 11, 2018

President Buhari meets President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, China. September 2018 NIGERIAN PRESIDENCY/TWITTER.

The seventh Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) just concluded in Beijing last week. Themed “China and Africa: Towards an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future through Win-Win Cooperation”, this year’s forum aimed to strengthen diplomatic ties between China and the 53 African countries in attendance, and renewed their commitment to stronger Sino-African trade and mutual development. The forum focused on 8 initiatives including: infrastructure connectivity; industrial promotion; capacity building; trade facilitation; health; green development; cultural exchanges; and security.

To this end, the forum’s attendees signed numerous bilateral agreements, the 2019-2021 Beijing Action Plan, and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the One Road (OBOR) Initiative. Among the many outcomes of the forum, China’s pledge of $60 billion in credit facilities to finance development in Africa stands out. This pledge aims to finance different development initiatives over the next three years and will be provided in the form of investment, financing by financial institution and companies and government assistance.

Chinese President, Xi Jinping, broke down the distribution of the funds partially, revealing that a quarter of the pledge will be interest-free loans, grants and concessionary loans. At the end of the forum, all the African countries in attendance left with new commitments from China. So what were the gains for Nigeria specifically?

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About the Author

Oreva Olakpe

holds a PhD in Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

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Nigeria at FOCAC 2018