Nigeria-China cooperation fruitful in multiple ways

The 24 years of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) have been beneficial and eventful for both sides. On Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era. The summit, being held in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday, will undoubtedly strengthen the bond between Africa and China, elevating it to new heights.

In many ways and areas, China-Nigeria relations, an extension of the FOCAC, have been fruitful.

My recent book, The Chinese in the Nigerian Economy, published in January this year, takes a detailed look at the footprints of Nigeria-China relations, especially in terms of Sino-Nigerian economic relations over the past years.

Nigeria has been a top beneficiary of Sino-Nigerian ties in the economic field and beyond. For instance, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has invested more than $7 billion in infrastructure, including railways, roads, airports and bridges, since 2012. The Chinese enterprise also renovated and upgraded the top four international airports in Nigeria, with the fourth being commissioned on March 22, 2022, in Lagos. Within five years, the CCECC built 717 kilometers of railways in four major projects, with 75 percent of the funding coming from the Export-Import Bank of China. Between 2023 and 2024, it completed two more railway projects of about 28 km as part of the Lagos metro system.

According to World Bank data, for many years China has been working to boost the industrialization of African countries, contributing an average of 12 percent to Africa's industrial production or manufacturing. In Nigeria, its contribution stands at 9.2 percent.

Between 2010 and 2019, China was the highest employment generator in Africa, creating an average of 18,600 direct jobs per year. In comparison, the United States generated on average 12,000 jobs in Africa, according to the World Bank. And on Thursday President Xi encouraged Chinese and African businesses to invest and start businesses in both regions, keep the value addition of industries in Africa, and create no fewer than 1 million job opportunities for Africans.

When it comes to the distribution of Chinese companies across Africa, Nigeria has the largest share, almost 10 percent of the total number. The reason for this is the size of the Nigerian economy — the largest in Africa with a market of about 200 million consumers — and the friendly attitude of the Nigerian people toward the Chinese people.

The total value of the about 10,000 Chinese companies operating in Africa, including the 920 in Nigeria, according to McKinsey, is about $500 billion. These companies are funded and operated by Chinese investors, many in partnership with African companies.

Tristan Cui, director general of the China General Chamber of Commerce based in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, said that all the companies owned by the Chinese in Nigeria are enormous and in different sectors of the economy.

In 2020, then Chinese Consul General in Lagos Chu Maoming said more than 120 top-grade Chinese enterprises were reportedly doing business in the country, either independently or in partnership with Nigerian companies in sectors such as engineering, oil and gas, financial technology, information and communications technology, construction, manufacturing and agriculture. Also thousands of Chinese nationals are involved in other businesses.

As for promoting human capital, in July 2023, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation welcomed 85 young Nigerian graduates it had trained in railway engineering and management and then helped them complete their master's in two Chinese universities in Xi'an and Changsha.

Good bilateral relations prompted the two countries to elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2005.

In the fintech sector, OPay and Palmpay, two giants with Chinese funds, have become dominant. The two companies run businesses with assets worth nearly $4 billion. These two entities became prominent between December 2022 and April 2023 when the Nigerian economy was hit by the infamous cash scarcity caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria's decision to redesign its policy.

The situation forced more than 85 percent of financial transactions to pass through the electronic banking system. The sudden development overstretched commercial banks to the point where their online banking platforms could not cope, resulting in collapsed systems that prevented people from completing most transactions. More than 86 percent of tech-based financial transactions failed, causing widespread economic glitches. OPay was the major rescuer during that crisis.

Huawei tops the list of companies powering Nigeria's digital economy, providing hardware services for all the major Nigerian telecom operators. In September 2018, during the last FOCAC Summit hosted in Beijing, then Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari signed a $328 million deal, on behalf of the Nigerian Communications Commission, with Huawei, according to which Nigeria would provide ICT support services for Nigerians. Today, the company is a major cloud-based ICT service provider. It offers cloud and financial transaction support to almost all Nigerian banks and the majority of oil companies.

Nigeria's fruitful cooperation with China serves as a vivid example of the thriving economic ties between China and Africa.