Young people can contribute much to fostering Sino-African relations for the betterment of the peoples of both sides
Young people can play a significant role in enhancing social and economic development and fostering Sino-African relations, given that both sides have relatively young populations with a long life ahead to take their respective economies to new heights if given the proper skills, training and development.
For instance, in 2015, Nigeria and China celebrated 10 years of strategic partnership in which Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Gu Xiaojie praised the Nigerian movie industry, also known as Nollywood, for being Nigeria’s stamp on the world.
The industry, which generates billions of dollars for the Nigerian economy, has expanded Sino-African relations in recent years, with African moviemakers producing movies that portray Africans living in China and focus mainly on romantic relationships between Chinese and Africans.
Examples of such African films include the 2013 movie King of Guangzhou, which is about a Nigerian man fighting to stay in China with his pregnant wife in spite of facing deportation. Another is the 2015 Ghanaian romantic-comedy Kalybos in China.
What is significant about the African movie industry regarding this topic is that it has only been recently that young film producers and filmmakers have emerged in the so-called New Nigerian Cinema.
These young moviemakers are determined to put Nollywood on an equal footing with the likes of Hollywood, not only in quantity, but also in the quality of movie production. Increasing youth involvement in Sino-African relations will mean that the continent’s movie industry will continue to grow and, in return, contribute to the continent’s socioeconomic development through global revenues.
The movie industry is just one example of promoting entrepreneurship among young people through small and medium-sized enterprises so that trade between Africa and China can yield mutually beneficial and sustainable goals. This is crucial to boosting socioeconomic development between the two partners.
Scholars assert that socioeconomic inequalities and high unemployment rates among young people potentially make countries more vulnerable to political instability and national insecurity, since most of the young, fresh and active individuals are kept out of the job market. Due to a shortage of economic opportunities, they might end up taking that energy out on activities such as drug and human trafficking, crime, prostitution and terrorism, which all bear negative consequences for them and their respective countries.
It is also argued that as 10 million young Africans enter Africa’s workforce annually-Africa has the fastest-growing population in the world – there must be mechanisms in place for young Africans to make a meaningful contribution to the continent’s social and economic development.
Luckily, in this light, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation’s Johannesburg Action Plan provides study and training opportunities for young people to increase meaningful socioeconomic contributions to the growth of both partners. This can only happen by creating employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for the masses of unemployed young people.
Young people also have an enormous role to play in fostering Sino-African relations through social and economic development for the betterment of the peoples of the two partners, as the China-Africa Business Council has asserted. It seeks to promote communication and understanding between young people in China and Africa with the Towards Zero AIDS campaign, which seeks to mobilize resources to support youth engagement in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care. Participation of young people in such programs means supporting them as partners and leaders in global AIDS awareness and promoting an HIV-free generation.
As China and Africa strive to improve their technological advances, one might argue that in the area of technology and innovation, young people have a major role to play in improving relations between the two partners through people-to-people exchanges and technical skills transfers.
It should be acknowledged that young people are the future of the Sino-Africa partnership and therefore should be more equipped with technological skills to drive innovation that will stimulate social and economic development.
Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, encouraged young Chinese people to show leadership in the AIDS response during the launch of the Towards Zero AIDS campaign at Beijing’s University of Science and Technology.
Also present was the Djibouti ambassador to China, Abdullah Abdillahi Miguil, who stressed that “for the African continent to go beyond where it is now for its people, we need to build the capacity of our people for innovation”.
To this, one might affirm that youth involvement in Sino-African partnerships, particularly in technological innovation and skills transfers, has a greater prospect of expanding and contributing to the sustainable social and economic development of the regions.
To recap, one might maintain that a key moment in strengthening Sino-African relations will be promoting entrepreneurship of small and medium-sized enterprises driven by young people. These will be the key stimulators of job creation and other economic opportunities that are essential for inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development.
Other important areas in which youth involvement is crucial in the social and economic development of Sino-Africa relations is people-to-people exchanges and cultural exchanges through sports and education.
Through such exchanges, the young people of the two regions can develop themselves and share the knowledge and skills gained through these exchanges with their communities and families back home. Then, in the long term, they can contribute to their respective regions’ social and economic development while at the same time fostering stronger relations between China and Africa.
The author is a research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue associated with the University of South Africa. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
(China Daily European Weekly 11/23/2018 page9)