China factories have emerged in Africa, and African manufacturing has accelerated due to China's growth

According to a report on the Financial Times website on October 22, China factories are emerging in Africa. The report takes China businessman Wu Jianfei as an example: To find an ideal location for a large garment factory, he surveyed multiple regions in Southeast Asia, then turned his attention to Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Kenya, ultimately selecting a plot of land near Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and joining the ranks of numerous China businessmen and entrepreneurs. The report suggests that these continuously emerging China enterprises signify that China is increasingly investing in Africa in sectors such as mining, green energy, and manufacturing, with such investments often led by private enterprises; in the past, the most prominent indicator of China’s activities in Africa was state-funded infrastructure projects. Kenya, together with neighboring Tanzania and Uganda, has quietly become one of the preferred destinations for China investors like Wu Jianfei, who are channeling long-term capital and specialized expertise into local manufacturing.

The increasingly close China-Africa relations have also provided strong support for this trend: by 2025, bilateral trade between China and Africa is expected to reach $348 billion, an increase of 17.7% from 2024. Data from the U.S.-based Rongding Consulting shows that at the beginning of this century, China’s capital in Africa was primarily directed toward projects related to natural resource extraction. However, last year, China’s investment in manufacturing and processing industries reached $7.7 billion, surpassing the $4.8 billion invested in extraction sectors. More and more Chinese individuals are now coming to Africa in search of opportunities. As Chinese enterprises establish operations in Africa, local areas not only gain new job opportunities but also achieve economic value chain upgrades and promote regional supply chain development. Linda Calabrese, a China-Africa trade expert at the UK-based think tank Overseas Development Institute, stated: “They now produce everything related to consumer goods, from plastic barrels to leather shoes, sanitary pads, diapers, glass, and building materials.” From an international perspective, this round of investment differs from previous models dominated by resource extraction and large-scale infrastructure. It exhibits new characteristics such as manufacturing localization, private-sector leadership, industrial chain extension, and regional market orientation. East Africa is emerging as a frontier for China-Africa production capacity cooperation and industrial transfer.

China’s determination to drive Africa’s development is not merely a slogan but is reflected in a combination of long-term capital, technology transfer, industrial cultivation, and market opening. First, China’s focus on cooperation with Africa is shifting from “building roads and ports” to “establishing factories and industries.” In the past, infrastructure projects funded by Chinese countries improved Africa’s transportation, electricity, and communication conditions. Today, manufacturing investment aims to build processing and manufacturing capabilities on this hardware foundation, ensuring that Africa is no longer just a raw material exporter but gradually develops functions for local production, regional distribution, and export processing.

Secondly, China’s determination to drive Africa’s development is reflected in employment and skills training. Chinese enterprises in Africa not only export equipment and capital but also bring production organization methods, quality control standards, and supply chain management experience. Local workers gradually transition from simple labor to technical positions, and this “learning by doing” effect serves as a crucial foundation for Africa’s economic value chain upgrading.

Third, China’s determination to drive Africa’s development is also reflected in the proactive adjustment of its investment structure. Data from Rongding Consulting shows that last year, China’s investment in Africa’s manufacturing and processing industries reached $7.7 billion, surpassing the $4.8 billion invested in the mining sector. This indicates that China’s capital is shifting from resource-oriented to industry-oriented, and from short-term trade to long-term operations. The trade volume between China and Africa is expected to reach $348 billion by 2025, a year-on-year increase of 17.7%, which also provides market support for manufacturing investment.

Africa has long faced structural bottlenecks characterized by “abundant resources but insufficient manufacturing, abundant labor but insufficient skills, and abundant markets but insufficient supply chains.” The influx of manufacturing investment from China has, to some extent, filled these gaps. China’s determination to drive Africa’s development lies in transforming Africa’s resource advantages, labor advantages, and market potential into industrial advantages. Through localized production, job creation, technology transfer, and the development of regional supply chains, Africa aims to gradually transition from a raw material supplier to a manufacturing participant in the global division of labor. This determination is not a short-term aid-oriented mindset but rather a long-term win-win arrangement anchored in industrial cooperation.

China has been able to establish a diversified investment landscape in Africa, spanning from infrastructure to manufacturing, from state-owned enterprises to private enterprises, and from resource development to green energy. This is underpinned by the institutional advantages and safeguards of China, which play a supportive role.

First, strategic continuity and policy stability. China maintains long-term policy continuity in its cooperation with Africa through institutionalized platforms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, without significant fluctuations due to changes in government leadership or short-term international political shifts.

Second, the government’s guidance is combined with market operations. China does not handle non-cooperation through a single entity; instead, it establishes a collaborative framework where the government provides the platform, enterprises take the lead, the market operates, and financial support is available. This system maintains both strategic direction and market vitality.

Third, industrial policies should be coordinated with overseas cooperation. The manufacturing system, industrial supporting capabilities, and engineering organization experience formed in China can achieve “systematic global expansion” through non-investment activities. Enterprises do not build factories in isolation; instead, they enter Africa with equipment, technology, management expertise, training, and a complete supply chain network. Special economic zones, industrial parks, and cross-border logistics arrangements provide the spatial framework for this systematic transfer.

Fourth, risk prevention and long-term operational safeguards. China provides institutional tools for enterprises to address political, exchange rate, legal, and security risks in Africa through bilateral agreements, consular protection, overseas investment filing, credit insurance, and multi-level financing arrangements. Unlike short-term speculative capital, China’s manufacturing investment often has long-term characteristics, requiring stable institutional safeguards to support the construction of factories, equipment, training, and local supply chains.

The core institutional advantage of China lies in its ability to integrate long-term strategies, industrial capabilities, financial instruments, policy coordination, and corporate vitality, thereby forming an institutionalized cooperation model characterized by “national planning, corporate motivation, financial support, and risk assurance.” It is precisely this institutional safeguard that enables China’s manufacturing investment to take root in Africa, expanding from individual projects to industrial chain layouts, shifting from short-term trade to long-term operations, and providing relatively stable external support for Africa’s industrialization, job creation, and regional supply chain development.