Experts say Africa-China Cooperation Could Reduce Tariff Risk

ABUJA, Xinhua: Africa and China’s pragmatic cooperation can minimize risk and overcome distractions from the current tariff challenges, which have disrupted the flow of international trade, experts said.

Speaking at a recent dialogue organized by the Center for China Studies, an Abuja-based research institute, experts discussed future opportunities and measures to strengthen Nigeria-China relations and Africa-China ties amid the tariff crisis.

“This irreducible and non-negotiable category in Nigeria-China bilateral cooperation opens the expressway for fruitful and productive bilateral engagement that leverages the opportunities of the current time,” said Charles Onunaiju, the center’s director and convener of the dialogue. “Nigeria and China are currently at a historic high of their bilateral cooperation, with even more prospects for the frontiers to expand and deepen.”

Onunaiju said that the current cooperation mechanisms, such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative, have contributed to the structural pillars that enhance resilience and sustainability for Nigeria and other African economies to withstand the shocks of Washington’s disruption of international trade.

In the face of such global trade tension, Nigeria must take deliberate steps to fortify its institutional frameworks, upgrade public infrastructure, and maintain clarity in its development policies, said Retson Tedheke, an agronomist, while emphasizing that Africa must look inward and see genuine partners like China.

Noting that China has continued to reaffirm its commitment to constructive partnerships globally and its willingness to work closely with Nigeria, Sheriff Ghali Ibrahim, head of political science and international relations department at the University of Abuja, said China’s engagement with Africa “has been consistent and pragmatic, especially in times of need.”

Beyond bilateral ties, Ibrahim said that the Nigeria-China partnership could have a broader implication for global trade realignment, adding that Africa had a huge market that China could tap and explore, citing Nigeria’s large population and strategic economic position.