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July 24, 2024

MARK THE DATE: Journalists Webinar on China-Africa Trade, Finance and FDI Report, on the road to FOCAC, 7 August 2024

The Africa-China Reporting Project (ACRP), in collaboration with the Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), invite journalists, researchers and professionals to attend the capacity building informative webinar on China-Africa Trade, Finance and Foreign Direct Investment, on the road to FOCAC.     

Date: Wednesday, 7 August 2024
Time: 09h00 – 10h30 AM EST // 15h00 – 16h30 SAST
Register here to attend


The Boston University Global Development Policy Center manages a suite of interactive databases that collectively track hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese loans and investment to a variety of sectors, including energy and other infrastructure development. The GDP Center manages and updates these databases in a bid to provide transparent information to aid research, education, policymaking, journalism and accountability with regards to China’s overseas development finance and projects around the world.

The GDP Center and the African Economic Research Consortium recently published a New Report (2024), which analyses 22 years of China-Africa trade, finance and FDI data (2000-2022), to evaluate trends, reveal gaps and identify pathways for China’s support to Africa’s energy access and transition amidst economic challenges and energy opportunities.

Over the past three decades, China-Africa economic engagement has deepened across trade, development finance and foreign direct investment (FDI), contributing to African countries’ development and bringing economic benefits, but also some environmental risks.

The report finds that past economic engagement has helped African countries overcome infrastructure bottlenecks but has also replicated trade patterns where Africa exchanges its primary resources for finished goods.

China’s historic economic relationship with Africa positions it as a contributor to African sustainable development, a topic that will no doubt feature prominently at the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September 2024.

If China and African countries intend to tackle current development objectives like energy access and transition at the FOCAC, what forms of finance and which industries are promising targets for future cooperation?

On Wednesday, August 7, 15:00-16:30 SAST // 9:00-10:30 AM EST, join us for a webinar discussion on China-Africa trade, finance and FDI, on the road to the next FOCAC. During the discussion, researchers and data analysts will share the key findings from the report. It is beneficial of attendees to review the report prior to attending the Webinar, in order to present any questions or comments during the discussion session.

Speakers:

  • Lucas Engel, Data Analyst, Global China Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center
  • Dianah Ngui Muchai, Collaborative Research Manager, African Economic Research Consortium
  • Maureen Heydt, Assistant Director, Communications & Outreach, Boston University Global Development Policy Center
  • Charles Owino, Manager, Publications, African Economic Research Consortium
  • Bongiwe Tutu (Moderator), Project Coordinator, Africa-China Reporting Project, Wits University

Last year (2023), the GDP Center and the ACRP hosted a Webinar on Interpreting Data and Data Sources: Tracking China’s Overseas Lending, Development Finance and Global Energy Finance Databases.  The webinar explored three of five interactive public databases. Publishing this data has helped journalists and researchers analyse and interpret trends in understanding, unpacking and reporting of China’s overseas economic activities. As a resource, these data projects can help stakeholders discover more about China’s overseas lending in an interactive and engaging way.

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