Zhou Yuxiao, Ambassador for Affairs of FOCAC of the Foreign Ministry of the People’s Republic of China, reflects on the implementation of the outcomes of the last FOCAC Summit held in Beijing in 2018, the challenges incurred since and his expectations of the upcoming Senegal meeting.

Africa has become a magnet for medium and high-end consumer business investment. This can be traced quite rightly to the ever-growing population in large urban cities across the continent. Africa's population has the entire world's population rate with a twenty per cent projection over the next five years.

Beijing Africa Week is set to return for its third year from July 20 to July 25. This year's theme is"Sankofa,"a word from the Twi language of Ghana, which means"go back and get."The theme reflects the idea of"looking into the past for the inspiration needed to progress."The week-long itinerary of cultural activities is the flagship annual event of Kente & Silk, a Beijing and Ghana-based social enterprise focused on improving China-Africa relations by designing and executing innovative events and co-organizing deep-dive trips to Africa."In May 2018, we started Africa Week because we saw a need to change the narrative of Africa-China relations,"recalled Zahra Baitie, Kente & Silk's co-founder and CEO. "We not only wanted to show China the beauty of African culture, but to also create a platform to encourage meaningful people-to-people interactions."   

The COVID-19 crisis is affecting the entire world economy and of Africa in particular. No single country, state or Kingdom on the globe is left out from the consequences of the pandemic outbreak that has been devastating the world since the end of December, 2019.Key sectors on the African continent are experiencing a slowdown as a result of the pandemic. Air Transport, Tourism, Trade among others are obviously impacted.

Kigali maintained its position among the top meetings destination in Africa. According to the report from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Kigali maintained its position as the second most popular destination for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) events in Africa.MICE is a specialized niche of group tourism dedicated to planning, booking, and facilitating conferences, seminars, and other events, which is a big money maker in the travel industry.