On March 18, the Global Media Dialogue took place in Abuja, Nigeria. Organized by the China Media Group Africa and the University of Abuja, the event focused on “Enhancing China-Africa Cooperation in New Quality Productive Forces to Realize High-Quality Growth.”
Around 50 people attended, including political party representatives, government officials, scholars, media representatives, and students from the University of Abuja. They discussed ways to deepen China-Africa cooperation and capitalize on development opportunities by aligning China’s strategies with African needs.
During the dialogue, Abdul Rasheed Na’Allah, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, expressed hope to benefit from China’s development plans. He emphasized the university’s willingness to deepen cooperation, particularly in aerospace and agricultural science.” The University of Abuja has established an innovation center and hopes to jointly promote the research and development of New Quality Productive Forces with China, thereby leading Nigeria development and progress” Na’Allah said.
On his part Wang Yingqi, Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, highlighted China’s shift towards high-quality development and its willingness to work with Nigeria to foster new productive forces. Mr Wang said “In the past ten years, China’s innovation ranking has improved significantly – its new energy, high-end equipment, and biotechnology have improved significantly. The proportion of emerging industries in the economy continues to increase.”
He noted that “The cooperation between Nigeria and China in economy, investment and trade is in a leading position among African countries. China-Nigeria cooperation has made positive contributions to the healthy development of economic globalization. China is willing to work with Nigeria to jointly cultivate new productive forces and create new development pattern.”
Also in attendance was Yabagi Sani, chairman of the Action Democratic Party of Nigeria. He stressed the complementary nature of China and Africa’s resources and advantages, proposing deeper cooperation to promote high-quality development. According to him – “China has rich experience in the field of digital economy and e-commerce. China can help African countries achieve digital transformation in industries such as finance, medical care and education, and promote Africa to accelerate economic growth and achieve leapfrog development.”
Jibrin Baba Ndace Director General/CEO of Voice Of Nigeria, commended policies like the Belt and Road Initiative for promoting infrastructure development and economic integration in Africa. “The new productivity and high-quality development strategies proposed by China are of far-reaching significance, which will bring China-Africa cooperation into a new stage, and will further unleash the huge potential of China-Africa cooperation through innovation and capacity building” Ndace noted.
Ali Adamu, Deputy Director of the Industrial Development Department of Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, emphasized the need for Nigeria to improve productivity with China’s assistance, especially in advanced manufacturing.
“Nigeria needs to improve productivity with the help of China. China’s experience in advanced manufacturing can help Nigeria accelerate the pace of industrialization”.
During the interactive session, participants highlighted the importance of manufacturing and industrialization for Africa’s development, suggesting African countries actively attract investment from Chinese enterprises. Overall, participants appreciated the dialogue as a valuable platform for understanding China’s new trends and enhancing exchanges between Nigeria and China.