by Peter Kagwanja

Modernity must be homegrown. Models of modernization imported or imposed without regard for local realities could have calamitous results.

In this context, the Hong Ting Forum, hosted by Xinhua News Agency Africa Regional Bureau on April 2, offered a timely platform to reflect deeply on two important concepts, important in charting a future of peaceful global development.

The first concept is dialogue. In its broadest sense, dialogue would refer to a conversation or exchange of ideas, opinions or information between people, communities, nations or civilizations with the goal of seeking mutual understanding or resolution, while the opposite of dialogue is a clash of peoples, nations or civilizations theorized by Western scholars such as Samuel Huntington.

The second concept is modernization, a theory that envisions societies evolving through a series of developmental stages, moving from traditional to modern forms.

The history of China and Africa made it crystal clear that externally imposed models of modernization only deepen poverty and underdevelopment, often leading to cycles of conflict, destruction and death.

More blissfully, homegrown modernization could lead to the transformation of a traditional, rural and agrarian society into a more urbanized and industrial one, both qualitatively and quantitatively, paving the way for poverty eradication and laying the foundation for a more prosperous nation.

China and Africa have chosen the path of independent modernization and peaceful development, paved by dialogue as envisioned by the Global Civilization Initiative. The story of China-Africa dialogue on modernization starts with the ancient Silk Road where human civilizations met and exchanged goods, services and ideas about values, religions, cultures, economies and forms of government.

These exchanges were mutual and among equals. This story has unfolded as an epic tale of two civilizations that met along the ancient Silk Road, joining hands and walking together as equal partners.

Both the Chinese and African dreams were cut short when the two civilizations were occupied, exploited and humiliated by external forces. Imposing western models of modernization failed tragically.

It is now clear that modernization is not equal to Westernization. However, for centuries, Western-style modernization has been used as a tool of cultural, economic and political domination.

Based on the Cold War mentality, modernization was weaponized as an instrument of foreign policy and Western global hegemony.

External modernization was extremely expensive for China. By 1978, when China adopted the reform and opening-up policy, China was one of the poorest countries in the world. The Chinese modernization has shown that poverty is not a curse for any country or civilization. In the past four decades, China has managed to lift an estimated 800 million of citizens from absolute poverty.

Imposed or imported modernization has been extremely expensive for Africa. It reached a dangerous peak during the "lost decades" from 1980 to 2000, when Africa had its worst publicity and was written off by Western investors as a "hopeless continent."

In the late 1990s, Africa embarked on a search for its own model of modernization relevant to its development aspirations.

Africa's thinkers and leaders popularized the idea of "African Renaissance" and the mantra of "African solutions to African problems" as a call to decolonize the continent's development space.

The African Union adopted Africa's Agenda 2063 as the continent's development blueprint and a beacon light in its long walk to modernization.

In the 21st century, the story of modernization in China and Africa has increasingly become a beautiful tale of two paths, shared future. Many African countries have pursued a Look-East-look-South policy to benefit from the rapidly modernizing powerhouses in the Global South, especially China.

Today, Chinese modernization meets African modernization in the dream of "African Renaissance." China and Africa have joined hands to find synergy in their separate paths to modernity.

China-Africa cooperation in pursuit of modernization is a win-win scenario. The year 2025 marks 25 years since the inception of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000.

FOCAC has evolved as the premier forum for China-Africa dialogue on policy to create synergy between the two paths to modernity. Through the forum, China has committed to supporting African modernization, notably by contributing to the AU's Agenda 2063 and Africa's efforts to realize its Continental Free Trade Area.

Moreover, 52 out of 54 African countries participate in the Belt and Road cooperation, a salient symbol of the Chinese dream of modernization, launched in 2013.

The Belt and Road cooperation has supported investments in ports, highways and railways. Take Kenya. China's support has led to the emergence of the fastest-growing economic belt along the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway. The railway has raised the country's GDP by 1.5 percent, and it is projected that the railway project will contribute 2 to 3 percent of Kenya's GDP by 2030.

During the FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2024, Africa and China agreed on a new deal for peaceful development woven around the Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027). The Africa Policy Institute (API) is monitoring the implementation of this blueprint hour by hour and day by day, driven by the conviction that it carries the promise of Africa's modernization and industrialization.

Evidence points to rapid growth of investments, trade, technology transfer and industrialization. Researchers at the API are also monitoring the "Outlook on Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa," mooted in January 2022 to promote lasting peace, stability and prosperity.

The idea of "peaceful development" remains the sturdy cornerstone of sustainable modernization and global development.

That is why Africa fully supports the three global initiatives, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, as global public goods to anchor peaceful development to ensure an equitable, just and prosperous world.

Editor's note: Peter Kagwanja is a professor and the President and Chief Executive at the Africa Policy Institute.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.

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