“China-Africa Future Leaders Dialogue Week” Reflection Report
From December 07th to 11th, 2024, Mr. NAUTA Lamek Aluvilu and Ms. DIF Rim, had the immense chance to represent the Shanghai National Accounting Institute in the “China-Africa Future Leaders’ Dialogue” week held in Yichang and Wuhan in Hubei Province, China.
In its core, the “China-Africa Future Leaders’ Dialogue” is a platform to enhance China-Africa’s Friendship and foster proactive dialogue between youth representatives and leaders from both sides. In its 2024 edition, it had brought together the President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the representatives of the Provincial Bureaus of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (Beijing, Shanghai and Hubei), the Ambassador of the Republic of Congo to China, Representatives of the Embassy of Burundi in China, and representatives of African countries in China.
Furthermore, the “China-Africa Friendship week” is an excellent think-tank to exchange ideas and culture for the sake of achieving a shared future with prosper and sustainable characteristics. Particularly, by involving youth from both China and Africa, the program enables a fresh vision on how development could and should be achieved.
The most valuable asset we gained through this event is the friendship and networking with youth fellows from both China and other African countries, who are potential leaders of tomorrow. In fact, apart from being a great exchange platform, the strength of this event relies in the networking opportunities it offers to youth from Africa and China. The platform is a channel not only to connect with our fellows, but also enables us to collaborate proactively for a better future.
The program enabled us to jointly discuss several development matters, helped us better understand each other views, communicate our minds and ideas, and most importantly enabled us to commit ourselves to remain connected and collaborate further in the future to achieve feasible actions that through this platform, will find a way for implementation in the ground in our respective nations to further enhance the collaboration and friendship between China and our countries.
In addition, this event is a bridge between youth and experienced senior managers and leaders. In fact, the attendees of the event where from diverse background, career maturity including high ranking officials (ambassadors, local governors…etc.), researchers, students and other practitioners. As such, the event allowed senior high-ranking officials to hear the voice of the youth, and permitted for merging views and ideas from both groups.
Besides, the program emphasized on cultural exchange and cultural heritage preservation, which is determinant to achieve a shared common future as it helps understanding each other’s visions and background, and equip us with different perspectives for development. Specifically, cultural exchange reminds us that no matter the extent our views are divergent, our strength for shared future relies on our differences. Hand in hands we can achieve better and bigger results than we can on our own.
The program was rich and included engaging activities, lectures, and site visits that collectively deepened our understanding of the complexities surrounding the multi-faceted development achieved in Hubei province.
For instance, infrastructure in Hubei, such as the Three-gorges Dam, witness the joint role of government and the community in achieving harmonious development. Not only had the dam construction helped in alleviating poverty, but it was also a tool for natural hazards mitigation.
The key experience and critical takeaways are summarized under the following themes:
Balancing economic development, natural hazards mitigation, and social Inclusion
Located in center heartland of the richest country in the world in terms of water resources, Hubei showcases how a country like China had turned its natural blessings into its own advantage. Yet, its location by the middle reaches of the Yangtze River had made Hubei Province prone to natural hazards such as floods, and historical records during the 1931, the 1954 and the 1998 witness how the river has been a source of both life (fertile lands suitable for agriculture) and death (recurrent floods) in the cities along its banks.
As such, to mitigate flood risk exposure and achieve social protection against natural disaster in the region, the government of China has put major efforts to construct the world’s largest ever built dam “The three gorges dam”.
This magnificent hydropower infrastructure leaves one speechless and leaves a deep and lasting impression of what humankind can achieve. It demonstrates how nations can, not only reduce their exposure to natural hazards, but also enhance their energy security. During our visit, we learned that although the dam’s energy production represents only 1% of China’s energy needs, it can ensure energy supply of a number of countries in Africa.
Apart from being an impressive hydropower station, the project is equipped with two-way lifts to enable ships navigation through the canal, which further underscore the uniqueness of the project, as it balances natural disaster protection and economic facilitation.
Furthermore, considering that the dam construction required the resettlement of the communities along its banks, the visit to Xujiachong Village enables us to deepen our understanding of how wise leadership and governance in China had successfully implemented the project while prioritizing not only economic growth and natural disaster protection, but also ensured the well-being of the local residents.
The residents’ relocation to Xujiachong village had been made without deracinating the local communities from their traditions, ensuring as such the conservation of their farming background while providing them with modern and traditional services to facilitates their integration in the new village, and enhance their living standards. Moreover, the village emphasized the community participation which had been vital to sustainably alleviate poverty.
The key lesson from these visits is that a country can achieve multi-dimensional targets by constructing one unique infrastructure without hindering other economic activities (water resources management, energy security, natural disaster monitoring, and shipping and navigation through the river).
Furthermore, although the geographical features of China and our respective countries may not be the same, through this event, it appears that many African countries can beneficiate from cooperation with China in terms of water resources management, natural disaster reduction and many other engineering projects, and most importantly, in terms of social inclusion and participation.
Innovative industrial development with sustainable characteristics
During our journey we visited VOYAH Motor. The company’s vision aims to produce eco-friendly models such as SUV, 7-seater…etc., and is specialized in electric and hybrid cars. After a tour visit around the factory, the company offered us a unique experience to try VOYAH Vehicles and experience the amazing take-off from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 4 seconds, a feature common in all VOYAH models, which highlights the level of innovation achieved by VOYAH Motor, in combining sports characteristics in non-sport electric and hybrid cars.
During our visit, we also discussed with the company representatives and we learned that the company is eager to penetrate African markets, and is willing to further grasp investment opportunities in African countries. However, one of the most imminent challenges that the company may face in African markets may be the lack of refueling networks especially for electric cars.
From our visit to VOYAH Motor, it is clear that the company managed to create a strong comparative advantage of going green, while successfully combining speed, comfort, innovation, stability, and adventure spirit.
Moreover, from our visit to the “Xingfa Group”, we learned about the importance of smart monitoring system for companies operating in various locations. The visit to the “Xingfa Smart Management Center” enabled us to observe how the group managed a digital transition to smart management of its networks as its activities were expanding.
As such, Xingfa group enhanced its operational efficiency using a centralized Smart Management Center that provides various types of real-time data about the group’s dispersed networks’ performance which enhanced the visibility, controls, resource allocation, cost reduction, and overall operational capabilities.
Green Urban Planning: the importance of ecological and environmental conservation
Ecological and environmental conservation was at the core of our visit to Hubei. In fact, Hubei Province has made significant strides in ecological and environmental conservation, particularly through initiatives aimed at protecting biodiversity and promoting sustainable development.
For instance, our visit to the “Education Base for the Well-Coordinated Environmental Conservation of the Yangtze River” underscored the importance of establishing regional centers for promoting public awareness and education on environmental aspects. The base provides training, workshops and organizes events and activities about sustainable environmental practices to enhance local community’s involvement in environmental conservation efforts along the Yangtze River, which helps building a sense of ownership over environmental resources and promotes stewardship of the Yangtze River ecosystem. Moreover, besides being a center research, evaluation and monitoring, the base serves as a policy implementation agency, as it can align its education events to national policies of ecological conservation.
In addition, from our visit to the East Lake Greenway in Wuhan, we observed the crucial role of local government in green urban planning. The Greenway was established as a mean not only for recreational purposes for the local communities, but also to enhance ecological conservation and ensure urban sustainability. With its aesthetic design, the East Lake contributes to the preservation and restoration of natural habitats for various species, especially wetlands biodiversity, and also maintains ecological balance in the region characterized by fast urban development.
Cultural heritage preservation and community engagement
Although Hubei province was rather unfortunate to become globally famous during the sanitary crisis, the province and its cities deserve further emphasis on the history, the rich culture and the charming environment they enjoy.
During our visit, cultural heritage preservation was a critical aspect of emphasis. The province symbolizes how protecting and promoting local cultural heritage can contribute to community development and foster economic activities (e.g., tourism), which further underscores the interconnection between culture and economy.
For instance, experience and visits to the “Changshengchuan Tea Culture Exhibition Hall”, the “Tribe of the Three Gorges”, and the “Hubei Provincial Museum” all denote the dual benefit of cultural preservation in both fostering citizens’ identity and creating economic prospects to the local community.
One of the most noteworthy aspects of our visit was the community’s active role in the preservation of the cultural intangible heritage. Particularly, in the Tribe of the Three Gorges, the local people especially the youth play a key role in preserving and promoting their ancestors’ culture, customs and traditions. Youth in the region proudly reflect their identity through sharing their cultural heritage, which is truly admirable and appreciable.
As such, involving the youth in the process of cultural preservation, not only ensures a lifelong for ancestors’ traditions and strengthen local identity, but also provide jobs opportunities for the young generation (through shows and performances), improve the tourist image of the region, and most importantly, contribute to poverty alleviation of the local inhabitants.
In addition, from our visit we learned that universities in the region also contribute to cultural heritage preservation and serve as a window to showcase the rich traditions and culture of Hubei and promote local cultural heritage among a diverse range of foreign students.
One of the most striking examples of universities’ involvement in cultural heritage preservation, was during our visit to Hubei University where we had an experience of intangible cultural heritage such water painting techniques, Jade stones carving…etc. From this experience, we observed foreign students’ participation in the university’s cultural events. By doing so, Hubei University ensures a smooth integration of foreign students and enhance their knowledge of local culture, and also promotes and preserves the intangible cultural heritage.
