No great razzmatazz - just effective leadership

The world's eyes were trained on China during the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress. Of significance for Africa is that this congress endorsed General Secretary Xi Jinping with a fresh mandate for another five years. For nearly three-and-a-half hours, Xi captivated his nation, and the world at large, with a detailed description of the achievements of the Party and the way forward. China "will not close its door to the world, and we will only become more open", he told Party luminaries at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct 18 - and, by extension, his Chinese compatriots, as well as a worldwide audience that is becoming increasingly astonished by his capacious mind.

The congress is devoid of the hysteria and the public displays of political partisanship that Africans have become accustomed to seeing in the Western democracies. It is, however, instructive and noteworthy to observe that the rigid avoidance of fanfare and open displays of razzmatazz during the pivotal twice-a-decade political transitions in China has not affected the development of policies that have led to real economic transformation within the country. In fact, Xi referred to this period as "a decisive stage in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and a critical moment as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era", thereby underscoring the meaningful recent strides the nation has undertaken toward becoming an enviable, undisputed global leader in the foreseeable near future. This is a compound idea based on a comprehensive model that is increasingly garnering interest and currency in Africa and the rest of the world.

For instance, the vision outlined by Xi at his report to the National Congress builds on the progress that has been made in lifting more than 600 million Chinese citizens out of poverty over the past two decades, with the expectation that those remaining will be free of poverty over the coming years.

How this has been achieved is of particular significance to Africa, which is combating the same scourge with less-than-satisfactory outcomes. In addition, the disruptions we encounter during African transitional politics - in the form of conflict, exorbitant government spending, loss of limb and life in election-related violence and economic upheaval at the expense of development - could probably be avoided by borrowing from the Chinese visionary model. As outlined during the 19th National Congress, this strategic vision in the "new era" calls for finishing the building of "a moderately prosperous society in all respects" and proceeding to "basically realize modernization, and then move on to turn China into a great modern socialist country in every dimension".

Outside of China, and of great import to Africa, is that following this congress, many of the initiatives that have come to fruition under Xi's watch, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the BRICS Plus initiative, will be sustained and upscaled over the next five years. This is good news for Africa particularly, due to the fact that all of these initiatives have, by and large, had a positive effect on the socioeconomic development of Africa.

FOCAC has been instrumental in forging a sustainable China-Africa cooperation agenda in a relationship that is also supportive of Africa's homegrown development plan as set out in the African Union's Agenda 2063. Furthermore, China's commitment to Africa is best epitomized by the fact that the African Union headquarters was built and donated by the Chinese as a place to bring together the continent's 54 member countries to deliberate on development. There are also clear synergies with the Belt and Road Initiative that support the greater part of the AU's agenda on connectivity, and a number of countries, such as Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Egypt, are for all intents and purposes part of the initiative. Other African countries, such as Mozambique, have overtly expressed interest in being part of this plan and China has responded, at least rhetorically, in favor of their inclusion.

Of notable significance is the fact that two African heads of state, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, were among 28 world leaders invited to the 2017 Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May in Beijing, whose theme was "strengthening international cooperation and co-building the Belt and Road for win-win development". Egypt and Kenya were also invited by Xi in September to Beijing among the five countries that constitute his BRICS Plus understudies to accelerate their socioeconomic development.

BRICS Plus is poised to create a useful new platform for communication among developing countries and establish good bridges of interaction on various mutually beneficial opportunities. These initiatives constitute the kind of "win-win" cooperation we expect from the world's indisputable leader of globalization and developmental peace in Xi's "new era" that includes Africa as a key a close friend and development partner.

The author is the director of the Africa Policy Institute. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/27/2017 page21)