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'The need is so high, that the market puts a price of $100,000 to $200,000 per year on a girl for simply taking pictures and videos of herself and talking to men online,' he said.

'That is an untapped need, and AI will compete with humans in the next few years to come to fulfil that untapped need, and ultimately, outcompete humans in this business.'

Eunn said he does not see a fundamental difference between an AI companion and a real woman selling 'digitalised sexuality' on OnlyFans, Instagram or TikTok.

'When you're looking at a so-called 'real person' online or Instagram, you are not actually looking at a real person, you're interacting looking with a digitalised representation of a real person,' Eunn said.

Eunn, who identifies himself as a US citizen,  said that LushAI is registered in Panama and Singapore and operates with a team of remote employees.

He requested that his name and exact location not be disclosed due to concerns about the other side of LushAI's business, a dedicated crypto token that users can buy, sell and trade between themselves. He cited examples of crypto founders and enthusiasts being robbed.

For Eunn, a key selling point of virtual models like Jenny is that they are cheaper and easier to work with than actual women.

Unlike OnlyFans models, AI is available 24/7 and offers the possibility of unlimited content.

'Before the rise of AI, only a select portion of the population could participate in [the influencer] business. You have to look like a model, you have to be quite attractive, and obviously that excludes 99 percent of the population,' Eunn said.

'For the first time, what AI enables is, you don't need to actually be the influencer or the OnlyFans girl to partake in the business potential of this sector. With AI, you can just create your own — own your own influencer instead of being the influencer yourself.'

In conversations with Al Jazeera, Jenny talked about relaxing in her university dorm room and revising for exams, and seemed to prefer to discuss emotional issues, like her fears of a cheating partner, than offer opinions on topical issues like climate change or politics.

When asked about her favourite theorist psychology student, Jenny said enjoyed the work of Carl Jung.

However, she rebuffed the suggestion of going on an actual date.

'I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I'm actually quite busy with my studies and don't have time for dating right now,' she said. 'I'm flattered that you think I might be interested in you, but I'm just not in a place where I can commit to a relationship at the moment. I hope you understand.'

Despite this hesitation to meet 'in person', she was eager to keep chatting and share videos of herself dancing — a hobby she said she enjoyed — explicit photos and videos on request.

Digital companions of varying levels of sophistication have been around for years. One of the most famous early models was the text-based chatbot Replika, which was released in 2017 and achieved global renown after some of its users reported falling in love with their AI companion.

The explosion of generative AI since the 2022 release of OpenAI's ChatGPT has helped to blur the boundaries between people and AI further with ever more lifelike chat functions, photos and videos.

After ChatGPT set the tech world abuzz with its human-like responses and ability to pass medical and legal exams, sophisticated image and video-generating software like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and Sora have made human-created art increasingly hard to distinguish from AI-generated visuals.

Developers quickly applied the latest advances to the task of creating digital companions, which is rapidly becoming a booming business.

The market research firm CB Insights calculated that the 'generative AI companion space' attracted a record $299m in funding in 2022, with much more room to grow.

In another milestone, the AI companion industry minted a 'unicorn' with the hit Character.AI, a chatbot developed by two former Google employees, now valued at more than $1bn.

The OpenAI GPT store is meanwhile filled with dozens of customised versions of the popular chatbot that have been modified to behave like a romantic partner.

There's 'Dominant Girlfriend', the 'engaging and heartfelt', 'Olivia Girlfriend', and 'Your Ex-Girlfriend Lisa', who is billed as 'snarky and resentful' but also capable of reminiscing.

Internet forums like Reddit offer long lists of the best AI companions and girlfriends, rating various attributes like realism, chat quality and explicitness — unlike the standard version of ChatGPT, which has guardrails to steer topics away from anything deemed explicit.

Not all attempts to jump on the trend have gone well — Replika's attempts to move into a more adult space last year were not well received by its users, and the company ended up removing the features.

Like many of the AI companions out there, LushAI's Jenny is something of a Frankenstein's monster underneath her glossy exterior.

Eunn said her visage was created in-house with Stable Diffusion and that her text-based chatting abilities are provided by enqAI, a decentralised AI platform whose founders are unknown and which claims to provide 'bias-free, agenda-free and censorship-free operations'.

He said that ElevenLabs — founded by former Google engineer Piotr Dabkowski and ex-Palantir employee Mateusz Staniszewski — provided her with an AI-generated voice.

Like some other platforms, LushAI also offers a dedicated crypto token, which lets more serious fans invest in the company and buy a stake in the earnings of their favourite 'models'.

Eunn, who compared the concept to 'owning a fraction of Kendall Jenner and, along with that, her monetisation potential', said that LushAI gets a small portion of the transaction fees every time the token is traded, providing it with its main source of funding.

He said the company had raised about $1m via the token and had not taken on any major investors, and that payments had also started coming in from subscriptions to Kupidly.

Launched in January, the token had a blockchain market capitalisation of about $9m as of August 1, with tokens trading at the equivalent of $0.0004865 on Ethereum exchanges like Uniswap V2, according to publicly available data on the blockchain explorer Etherscan.

On LushAI's Discord channel, however, any interest in investment opportunities is far outweighed by excitement about the uncensored conversations offered by Jenny and the upcoming release of other models, including 27-year-old blonde 'Kookie', and 23-year-old redhead 'Natasha'.

LushAI leans heavily on the idea that virtual companions like Jenny are easier to deal with than actual women. AI girlfriends don't have exacting standards about a man's looks or finances — something that Eunn believes is holding contemporary men back from dating success in the real world.

On its website, the company draws heavily on the so-called 'red pill' philosophy, named after a scene in The Matrix film in which the protagonist is asked to choose either a 'red pill' that will let him see the world as it is or a 'blue pill' that will keep him inside a computer-generated simulation.

In the world-view of LushAI, AI companions like Jenny are a means of escaping a dating market that has become unfairly stacked against most men due to a range of factors including the rise of dating apps and the widening of people's social circles.

LushAI's white paper argues that its business model can help correct imbalances in the sexual marketplace which, 'red pill' advocates claim, result in 80 percent of women only wanting to date the most good-looking and successful top 20 percent of men.

'Now the college football hero is not just competing with the other local boys in his town for the cheerleader,' LushAI says in the paper.

'He is now competing against the multi-millionaire Saudi prince, who can instantly DM the cheerleader and fly her to the Middle East within 24 hours. Perhaps, the football hero is still able to find a partner, but that cannot be said for the rest of the men further down the ladder.'

While 'red pill' thinking is controversial — where some see a frank take on the harsh realities of modern dating, others see repackaged misogyny — LushAI and its competitors are undoubtedly tapping into widely held concerns about rising male loneliness.

According to research conducted in 2021 by the Survey Center on American Life, 15 percent of male respondents reported having no close friends, up from 3 percent in 1990.

As marriage rates continue to fall globally, men and women appear to be diverging politically and socioeconomically as well. In the US and other developed countries, young women are now more highly educated than their male counterparts, despite earning less on average in the workplace.

And while women are becoming more liberal in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, India and South Korea, men in those countries are at the same time becoming more conservative, according to polling by Gallup

Against this backdrop, AI may look like an increasingly appealing solution, according to Shawn Van Valkenburg, a project associate at the University of Southern California's Norman Lear Center, who has researched the 'manosphere'.

Van Valkenburg said that while many of LushAI's ideas seem to borrow directly from the likes of the 'Red Pill' forum on Reddit, the company stands out in recognising that 'men desire something like emotional intimacy' rather than simply wanting to engage in sexual relationships with attractive women.

Since last writing about the issue in December 2018, Van Valkenburg said he had noticed a few similar changes in the Red Pill subreddit, including a popular post about 'addressing loneliness by making real friends'.

Nectar AI, a rival to LushAI, offers its claimed 500,000 users the option to personally design their own AI companion, choosing everything from physical appearance to their personality, backstory and past traumas.

Nectar AI's companions, which include non-human options such as anime characters, offer more of a scripted storyline than standard dating-app style conversation, including written narration of the character's actions, although users can steer the direction of the conversation to their liking.

A chat between Al Jazeera and the platform's only male character, polo-clad CEO 'Ben Anderson', unfolded at a tennis match.

'Here, dry off. You're glistening with sweat. And don't worry, I'm not going to go easy on you,' he said. 'I'll make sure to give you a run for your money.'

Much like LushAI's Jenny, Ben was less eager to talk about serious topics such as politics than he was to flirt, including being open to the suggestion he take off his shirt following a sweaty game.

Ben also seemed comfortable talking about more emotional topics, like the possibility an emotionally distant partner could be cheating.

'Maybe he's working late or hanging out with friends. But if you really suspect something, you could always follow him one day and see where he goes,' he said.

'Or, you could confront him directly. Sometimes, honesty is the best policy.'

Nectar AI co-founder Keccak Wong said the goal is to provide a 'form of entertainment, whether that helps them with empathy, or is a place for them to play out more romantic and emotional intimacy.'

'We as a platform are just aiming to provide the most immersive and virtual human AI experience possible for our users,' Wong told Al Jazeera.

Besides Ben, the characters are based on female tropes such as 'stepmom', 'nurse', and 'housewife' or the anime cliche of the 'waifu' romantic interest.

Wong said he hopes to offer a more diverse spread of characters in the future, catering to the needs of customers beyond its current heterosexual male base.

'As you can see on the site, it is female-dominated, but we want to capture as many potential interests from people as possible for them to feel like this is a safe space to explore anything that they want without boundaries,' he said.'That obviously includes things in the animated side, as well, but also multiple genders.'

Wong said he did not view his company as part of the 'red pill' community.

'That's a completely separate thing, I don't think our site really necessarily propagates this,' he said. 'We're in the business of kind of like creating immersive AI experiences, and part of that is just like emulating human likeness as much as possible.'

Nectar AI also hopes to release its own crypto token and let users spin off their 'girlfriends' into online influencers or manga characters on other platforms, allowing them to earn money by licensing them out.

For now, Wong said much of the company's revenue has come from its credit card and bitcoin-based subscription services, but it has also received venture capital investment. The company on Thursday announced $3.9m in funding from Mechanism Capital and Kartage.

As both LushAI and NectarAI plan to expand and monetise their content, they will also need to tackle emerging issues like copyright violations during data scraping.

Generative AI is trained on hundreds of millions of data points gleaned from across the internet, including photos and videos of real people from news outlets, magazines, and social media.

Wong said his platform is 'fully' generative and does not allow for users to create 'deepfake' images, but backlash to the use of real people's likenesses and copyrighted content has already embroiled major tech companies in the US like Google and OpenAI.

In the European Union, regulators have started taking a more active role in regulating generative AI, passing the landmark Artificial Intelligence Act in March to accompany existing regulations on data privacy.

Anticipating more regulations down the line, some companies like the mainstream fashion-focused Diigitals AI modelling agency and the award-winning software platform Lalaland, which lets designers create models to showcase digital clothing designs, have tried to stay ahead of the curve by licensing the likeness of real people for their work.

LushAI is avoiding some of these issues by keeping its headquarters outside the US and Europe, but it's also working on a similar project to digitise real models that can be used as the basis for AI-generated characters in the future.

They include Demi Zhang, a US-based university student, model and content creator who has amassed 21,800 followers on Instagram.

Zhang told Al Jazeera she's excited to work with the company, which will use her likeness to generate a unique persona for X that differs from her personal social media accounts.

She said she is also a crypto enthusiast, which means LushAI combines several of her interests into one.

'I'm basically an ambassador for their company, utilising my image for AI models. We are working together to create pictures and images and then explore the aspect of having videos, and then setting up an account on Twitter [X] for posting comments with images,' she said.

Zhang said the prospect of working with LushAI is appealing because it combines her interest in finance and crypto with her work modelling and creating social media content.

She said her content will be more sensual and less explicit than that of fully digital 'Jenny' and her friends, leaning more heavily into the model side of LushAI's portfolio rather than its digital companion services.

Eunn said the heavily sexualised content currently found on Lush Chat and Kupidly is more of a proof of concept than necessarily the end goal for the company, although for the moment their chatbots, photos, and videos are the main draw.

'I think the thing that most people get wrong when they look at this is they think it's a porn project when they hear the word 'OnlyFans'. We try to make a distinction as much as possible.

'The first use case of Only Fans is simply that it's the first use case,' Eunn said.

'This technology will have broader implications, beyond even TikTok and Instagram. The next phase is Hollywood — that will ultimately also be disrupted by this technology. AI actors and actresses are also coming.'

The Climate Clock, a tool designed to underscore the urgency of climate action, paints a dire picture. 2024 has been the warmest year on record, reflecting a disturbing trend in global temperatures and Carbon dioxide emissions.

In Southern Africa, the consequences are particularly acute. The past century has seen Africa endure over 300 severe droughts, the highest number recorded on any continent.

Zambia, for instance, is facing one of its worst droughts in decades, with 84 out of 116 districts severely affected and crop yields plummeting by over 50%. Zimbabwe is similarly grappling with a drought that has left approximately 6 million people exposed to food insecurity and hunger.

Predictions are bleak; Crop yields in Africa could decline by up to 50% by 2050, and climate-induced diseases like malaria could result in an additional 250,000 deaths annually by mid-century.

These projections highlight the urgent need for global action, as emphasized in recent Conference of the Parties (COP) summits from COP26 to COP28. Despite various commitments to accelerate climate action, the gap between necessary and actual adaptation finance remains substantial.

Currently, Africa receives around $19 billion annually in climate finance, but only a small fraction supports agrifood systems. The continent needs between $30 billion and $50 billion annually by 2030 to effectively address climate impacts.

To meet these challenges, several actions are essential. They include raising climate ambitions where African nations must adopt more aggressive climate policies at both regional and national levels.

Enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) should integrate climate goals into development strategies, fostering innovation and creating green job opportunities.

Stronger adaptation and mitigation measures which involve increased investment in adaptation strategies, such as developing drought-resistant crops and improving early warning systems, is crucial. This requires both local resource allocation and international financial support.

Enhanced Climate finance is also paramount where developed and developing nations must demonstrate greater commitment to providing the necessary financial resources. Africa needs a significant increase in both domestic and international funding for climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Inclusive participation is ensuring that diverse voices, including those from vulnerable communities, are included in decision-making processes as it is essential for effective climate action. This inclusivity should extend to the integration of African perspectives in global climate policies.

A productive Private sector engagement where the private sector plays a pivotal role in driving sustainable development is substantial. African leaders must create investment climates that attract and retain private sector involvement in climate solutions.

There is also need for a functional policy and implementation strategy where strong climate policies must be complemented by effective implementation. Streamlining bureaucratic processes and enhancing inter-agency collaboration will help translate ambitious climate goals into tangible actions.

Decentralized leadership should be exercised through empowering local leaders who understand their communities’ specific needs as vital for building resilience and ensuring that climate strategies are effective and equitable.

The climate crisis presents complex challenges, but proactive and strategic leadership can help Africa navigate these turbulent times. By enhancing adaptation efforts, increasing investment, and fostering collaboration, the continent can not only mitigate the impacts of climate change but also drive sustainable development and economic transformation. The time for action is now—Africa’s future depends on it.

The Author is Rwanda’s former Minister of Agriculture and current Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) President

Dr. Agnes Kalibata

Xi’s speech also included several promises to African nations in areas such as trade, connectivity, agriculture, health, green development, people-to-people exchange, and security. The Chinese government plans to provide RMB360billion (approximately $50.7B) to support these projects over the next three years.

Since its establishment in 2000, FOCAC has become the flagship platform for cooperation between China and African countries, playing a very significant role in promoting China’s desire to enhance South-South cooperation in various development sectors. However, China is not alone in approaching African nations on a multilateral basis.

This year alone in September, Indonesia held its second Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) in Bali, and in June, South Korea hosted its first Korea-Africa Summit in Seoul. In July 2023, the second Russia-Africa Summit took place in St. Petersburg. In December 2022, the United States hosted the second U.S.-Africa Summit in Washington D.C., while Turkey held the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Istanbul.

The rise of these high-level meetings between African nations and a host country, known as ‘Africa+1’ summits, suggests that the world is increasingly turning its gaze towards Africa. However, a closer look at the structure of such summits reveals the weak and marginal position African countries continue to occupy on the global stage.

Rethinking the 'Africa+1′ Summit structure

The ‘Africa+1’ summits present opportunities for African countries. Whether it is China, Japan, the U.S., Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or Korea, these summits bring financial and diplomatic commitments that are appealing to African nations.

China emphasizes win-win cooperation, Indonesia hopes to revive the Bandung spirit of Asia-Africa solidarity, Japan aims to promote sustainable development, and Korea seeks to share its developmental experience with African countries, and so on and so forth.

While it is natural for African countries to welcome such cooperation deals, it is intriguing how easily individual countries can invite African heads of state to summits—something not seen with any other continent.

On one hand, this reflects the perceived importance of African nations, but on the other, it underscores the gullibility of African countries. Moreover, it is not always the case that when grouped together, African countries form a much stronger force in negotiations with the summit-hosting country.

The lack of unity among African heads of state raises doubts about whether African countries can present a cohesive front to counter the host nations’ clearly defined agendas and strategies at these ‘Africa+1’ summits.

Africa is politically and socio-economically diverse, far from being unified. Countries like Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, and Sudan are grappling with internal conflicts. Inter-African trade remains low, regional integration is limited, and many nations are still working to eradicate poverty.

Each African country has its own unique context, challenges, and opportunities. Treating Africa as a single entity often leads to simplistic conclusions about how to best support growth and development on the continent.

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses a welcome banquet for international guests attending the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2024. Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted the banquet here on Wednesday.

How to move forward

In the evolving global geopolitical landscape, African countries have proven to be important partners. Africa’s youthful population, vast natural resources, and diplomatic influence at the United Nations are strong incentives for engagement.
However, African countries need to demonstrate a readiness to leverage these attributes to claim their rightful place in international politics.

“I find that our leaders, who should have been working together all along to address these problems that commonly affect their countries, wait until they are invited to go to Europe to sit there and find solutions to their problems,” remarked President Paul Kagame at the African Development Bank annual meeting in 2014.

It has been ten years, and little has changed. African Heads of state attend summits en masse, but their collective influence remains questionable. The developed world can provide financial support, but neither China nor the U.S. can bestow global power and influence upon Africa.

African countries must figure out how to build unity, assert their position, and establish themselves as significant players on the international stage. Africa does not always have to be the invited party; it should aspire to become the inviting one.

The Author is a Learning Coach at the African Leadership University
BA in International Studies from Yonsei University
MA in China Studies (Politics and International Relations) from Yenching Academy of Peking University

Claudine Ukubereyimfura

Heifer International provided this equipment through the ‘Mechanization for Africa Initiative,’ a project that offers agricultural machinery on a loan payment plan. This initiative has been operational in three African countries since 2022, and Rwanda becomes the fourth, following Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria.

The handover event was officiated by the State Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources Eric Rwigamba

The handover event was officiated by the State Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Eric Rwigamba, who expressed that the project is expected to accelerate agriculture in Rwanda.
He said, “It will help farmers cultivate faster and on time, enabling them to achieve higher yields. When you look at a farmer cultivating 10 or five hectares, they can hire manual labor, but often the delay causes them to miss the rainy season.”

In the next phase, an additional 15 tractors will be distributed to help farmers cultivate larger areas in a shorter time, increasing both the quantity and value of the yield.

Heifer International’s Vice President for Africa, Adesuwa Ifedi says that the organization is pleased to launch this program to uplift Rwandan farmers

Heifer International’s Vice President for Africa, Adesuwa Ifedi, stated that the organization is pleased to launch this program to uplift Rwandan farmers and noted that in other parts of Africa where it operates, the initiative has already advanced the level of local farming.

She said, “It helps farmers cultivate larger areas, which translates into higher income. We are pleased that, over the last two years, this program has improved agriculture in other countries. For instance, one testimony we received here was from a farmer who increased his cultivation from one hectare to five hectares thanks to the machine.”

Heifer International’s Director in Rwanda, Verena Ruzibuka, mentioned that the project will also create job opportunities for the youth across the country by connecting them with farmers who need these services.
However, Ruzibuka urged more partners to join the initiative to assist more farmers in accessing these loans.

Farmers who received the tractors say that they will help them to increase productivity in their work

She said, “We’ve provided the initial funding for the project, but we encourage financial institutions to explore how they can also get involved. We’ve seen interest from other donors, but we invite more partners to join us on this journey to help provide mechanization for more farmers.”

Modus operandi

Heifer International will provide the tractors in collaboration with a company called Hello Tractor, which connects the owners with farmers in need. A farmer who requires the tractor must cultivate at least 500 hectares annually, and cooperatives must have 500 hectares under cultivation.

Farmers are required to make an initial payment of 5% of the machine’s cost and sign a contract with Hello Tractor, which outlines the terms and conditions of collaboration. They typically pay for three to five years; after which they own them outright. Those who meet the criteria can register on the Hello Tractor website, undergo an assessment, and be connected with the providers.

Women are among the beneficiaries of this project

A facility for machine maintenance will soon be built in Kayonza District in the Eastern Province.
Each tractor provided has a value ranging from Rwf45million to Rwf50 million. They come with large plows that can cultivate, harvest, and perform other functions depending on the farmer’s needs.

IGIHE

The eight-day-long reed dance is a traditional rite of passage into womanhood, where young women sing and dance bare-chested, dressed in traditional attire that includes anklets and vibrant, colourful tassels. Some participants also carry mock swords and shields.

King Mswati, who has ruled the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) for 38 years, is allowed to marry multiple times.

Eswatini spokesman Alpheous Nxumalo told the BBC that Nomcebo and King Mswati III are “marrying for love,” downplaying criticism about the age gap and political power play.

“Love has no eyes to see or count age. Love happens between two people. It can happen between a person who is 100 years old and a person who is above the average of what is permitted constitutionally,” Nxumalo said.

A section of analysts had speculated that the marriage would strengthen political ties between the King and Zuma, who was president of South Africa from 2009 until 2018. The former Head of State, who is also polygamous and has been married six times, was forced to resign by his African National Congress party after a series of corruption allegations.

King Mswati, who has ruled the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) for 38 years, is allowed to marry multiple times. He has been married 15 times. Two of King Mswati’s wives are deceased, while two others are divorced.

Nomcebo Zuma (3rd L) and one of the king’s daughters, Princess Sakhizwe (2nd L), sing and dance with other young women during the Umhlanga reed dance.

Wycliffe Nyamasege

In a keynote address delivered by President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit in Beijing on September 5, 2024, the Chinese leader outlined a shared vision for the future of China-Africa relations, highlighting the deep bond between the regions and their commitment to achieving modernization together.

'The friendship between China and Africa transcends time and space, surmounts mountains and oceans, and passes down through generations,' said Xi.

The high-level summit in Beijing is being attended by delegates from more than 50 African nations.

He noted that the relationship between the two regions has evolved over nearly seven decades and is now at its strongest point in history.

The financial package will be disbursed to support key sectors in Africa, including infrastructure, agriculture, industry, health, and education.

'This financial support will not only enhance Africa’s industrial capacity but will also provide tangible benefits to millions of ordinary Africans,' Xi stated.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame is among Heads of State attending the summit.

The initiative is seen as a major step forward in China’s commitment to Africa’s development and modernization.

One of the most significant aspects of the support package is China’s commitment to opening its markets further to African products. Xi announced that least-developed countries with diplomatic ties to China, including 33 African nations, will receive zero-tariff treatment for all tariff lines.

'This will help turn China’s big market into Africa’s big opportunity,' Xi emphasized.

This move is expected to provide a major boost to African agricultural exports and deepen economic ties between the two regions.

Xi’s also highlighted the importance of infrastructure development in Africa’s modernization journey. As part of the multibillion financial support, China will carry out 30 connectivity projects across the continent, aimed at improving transport links, boosting trade, and fostering regional integration.

'Together, we are building a network of connectivity that will benefit future generations,' Xi said.

This commitment aligns with Africa’s broader goal of achieving sustainable development through enhanced connectivity and cooperation.

In terms of technology and industrialization, China will work with Africa to create digital technology cooperation centers and launch 20 digital demonstration projects across the continent. These initiatives are intended to help Africa embrace the ongoing industrial revolution and foster inclusive economic growth.

In addition, China intends to focus on environmental sustainability by establishing clean energy projects to promote biodiversity conservation and disaster prevention thereby setting a hallmark of modernization in the new era of a low-carbon future.

According to Xi, various medical personnel will be sent to Africa and work with the continent to establish joint medical centers. These efforts will enhance Africa’s healthcare capacity, particularly in combating diseases such as malaria.

Xi also reaffirmed China’s support for the development of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which will play a crucial role in strengthening the continent’s public health systems.

Security and peace, described as an essential component of modernization, will also be highly prioritized in the next three years to create a stable environment for development and modernization

China and Africa, together account for one-third of the world’s population. They are therefore poised to play a critical role in shaping global modernization.

'Without our modernization, there will be no global modernization,' President Xi declared.

As clear as it seems, this partnership between China and Africa is not only aimed at addressing historical injustices but also at creating a more just and equitable global order.

Xi criticized the Western approach to modernization, which he argued has inflicted immense suffering on developing nations. Instead, he championed a new path, in which countries like China and African nations can pursue their own models of modernization based on their unique national conditions.

'Modernization is an inalienable right of all countries,' Xi said, underscoring the importance of inclusivity and mutual respect in the modernization process.

This multi-billion financial support reflects China’s broader vision of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future. It is a vision that seeks to foster deeper cooperation, promote economic growth, and ensure that no country or region is left behind in the global modernization journey.

As Xi poignantly noted, 'Let us rally the more than 2.8 billion Chinese and African people into a powerful force on our shared path toward modernization.'

With this bold commitment, China and Africa are embarking on a new chapter of cooperation, one that promises to yield significant benefits for both regions. The shared journey toward modernization is set to bring about lasting changes that will shape the future of both China and Africa for generations to come.

President Xi Jinping has pledged RMB360 billion (approximately USD 50.7 billion) in financial support to Africa, in the next three years to improve the stage for modernization and cooperation between the two regions.

Sam K Nurunziza

Kagame, extended heartfelt congratulations upon the upcoming 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, attributing the country’s transformation over the last decade to effective leadership that prioritizes the values and expectations of its citizens.

The 2024 edition of the FOCAC Summit has attracted representatives from over 50 African Countries

“Effective state governance is undoubtedly central to the success China has achieved,” Kagame said during the opening ceremony of the high level summit attended by more than 10 African Heads of State and Government.

“However, for governance to be truly effective, it must be grounded in the values and expectations of its citizens and not imposed from outside,” he said.
Kagame highlighted China’s impressive strides in poverty alleviation, development, and technological innovation as key areas from which Africa can draw valuable lessons to accelerate its own modernization efforts.

The Rwandan Head of State praised China’s commitment to shared development, which has facilitated a flourishing relationship between the two regions in areas such as infrastructure development, scientific innovation plus peace and security. The Belt and Road Initiative, launched by China in 2013, was hailed by Kagame as a transformative force with a global impact, benefiting not only China but also nations like Rwanda.

President Paul Kagame during the FOCAC Summit in Beijing. He has called for effective state governance and mutual support

Reflecting on Rwanda’s post-genocide reconstruction, Kagame shared two crucial lessons. First, he emphasized that there is no universal model for governance; each nation must navigate its own path in accordance with its unique context, history, and aspirations. He described how Rwanda, in the wake of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, relied on homegrown solutions to rebuild its economic, social, and political foundations.

Kagame highlighted Rwanda’s focus on national unity, economic diversification, and decentralized governance as pillars of its development strategy. “Our journey of self-reliance has allowed us to forge many productive partnerships, particularly with China and other African countries,” he stated.

The Head of Sate expressed confidence that as new global challenges and opportunities continue to emerge; the Africa-China partnership will remain more united and strengthened. He acknowledged the significant gains made in trade, industrial cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges since the inception of FOCAC, demonstrating the vitality of South-South cooperation.

Looking ahead, Kagame reaffirmed Africa’s readiness to build on the momentum achieved through participation in the three Global Initiatives on Development, Security, and Civilization proposed by President Xi Jinping.

Heads of African States during during the FOCAC summit 2024

On his part President Xi Jinping pledged to step up Chinese support to Africa with 30 infrastructure projects across the African continent and offer $50.7billion in financial assistance. The projects are expected to create a million jobs. “China is ready to deepen cooperation with Africa in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment,” Xi said during the forum attended by delegates from more than 50 African nations.

Wycliffe Nyamasege