As an independent commentator and strategic observer, I have long been deeply fascinated by China’s extraordinary transformation — and with good reason. Africa’s future is inextricably tied to China’s rise. Our industrialisation, infrastructure development, technological advancement, and long-term prosperity are all shaped by China’s path, experience, and partnerships. Today, as we mark May 25, Africa Day, a date that honours our continent’s unity, sovereignty, and shared aspirations, this reflection feels especially timely: what lessons can we draw from China’s journey to help Africa write its own story of renewal?
I recently conducted an in-depth study of China’s modern history, tracing its arduous journey from 1840 to the present day. When reading about what the Chinese people call the “Century of Humiliation” — the decades of foreign aggression, political chaos, and profound suffering between 1840 and 1949 — I was profoundly moved. What I witnessed was not only a nation’s deep trauma but also an extraordinary spirit of resilience that holds profound, life-changing meaning for Africa. What began as academic research quickly evolved into personal reflection. This article is the result: a sincere, clear-eyed analysis of China’s rebirth and the invaluable, actionable lessons it offers Africa and the broader Global South.
The 200-year span from 1840 to 2040 is far more than a chronicle of one nation’s rise, decline, and renewal. It is living, irrefutable proof that no country is destined to remain poor, weak, or subjugated forever. For Africa, still grappling with the enduring legacies of colonialism, systemic resource extraction, and externally imposed conditional aid, China’s journey serves as both a mirror and a compass. It challenges the Western-centric development model that has long dominated global narratives and reveals a timeless truth: resilience is not a gift; it is a deliberate, built system.
China’s rebirth — from a semi-colonial, impoverished, and humiliated nation to a thriving global powerhouse — rests on four enduring, interconnected pillars.
First, strategic continuity and long-term vision. Unlike many developing nations, where policies shift sharply with each election cycle, government turnover, or short-term political priorities, China has remained steadfast to its core mission: national rejuvenation, for over a century. Tactics have adapted, methods have evolved, but the overarching goal has never wavered. Long-term national plans, such as the Two Centenary Goals, have provided unshakable stability, clear direction, and intergenerational continuity. For Africa, the lesson is unavoidable and urgent: policy volatility kills development. We cannot build industries, infrastructure, or sustainable economies if our strategies are abandoned every few years. We need a national vision that outlasts political cycles, patience that outlasts crises, and commitment that outlasts individual leaders.
Second, self-reliance in core security and foundational technology. In the 1960s, China faced harsh blockades and diplomatic isolation, among the worst in modern history. Western powers assumed China would surrender, compromise, or collapse under pressure. Instead, China chose the harder, nobler path: self-reliance in critical sectors. Its successful atomic bomb test in 1964, hydrogen bomb detonation in 1967, and launch of its first satellite in 1970 were not merely military or scientific triumphs — they were acts of strategic liberation, affirmations of national dignity, and declarations of psychological emancipation. China proved that a poor, agrarian, formerly colonised nation could master technologies once monopolized by a small group of wealthy industrial powers. For Africa, the lesson is unambiguous: sovereign security, industrial foundations, and technological destiny cannot be outsourced. They must be homegrown.
Third, pragmatic reform focused on tangible results, not rigid ideology. The Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in 1978 marked one of history’s most profound lessons in adaptive governance.
China did not abandon its identity or core principles; it redefined success around practical outcomes: improving people’s lives, driving industrial growth, eradicating poverty, and strengthening national power.
Special Economic Zones became dynamic laboratories for progress. China absorbed global capital, technology, and expertise while resolutely safeguarding its sovereignty. Its share of the global economy surged from a mere 1.8% in 1978 to nearly 18% in 2022. It learned from all nations but copied none, always choosing what worked for its people and national conditions.
Fourth, eradicating absolute poverty as the non-negotiable foundation of national renewal. Between 1978 and 2020, China lifted nearly 800 million people out of poverty — accounting for over 70% of global poverty reduction in that period. From 2012 to 2020 alone, it pulled 98.99 million rural people out of extreme poverty through targeted, grassroots, society-wide efforts. This was not accidental trickle-down prosperity; it was a deliberate, state-led, systematic campaign. China understood a simple yet profound truth: no nation can truly rise while leaving millions of its people trapped in hunger, deprivation, and rural stagnation.
A Global Wake-Up Call: The Western model cannot be replicated
Viewed through an honest and clear lens of modern history, we must confront an unavoidable reality: the industrialization and modernization of Western nations were forged amid specific historical circumstances, closely tied to colonial expansion, overseas plunder, unequal resource extraction, and an unjust international order. Their prosperity came at the expense of our suffering. Their progress was rooted in our subjugation.
This model is not only ethically flawed but also irreplicable in today’s world.
No nation in the Global South — especially no African nation that endured centuries of colonialism, dispossession, and exploitation — can ever replicate this path. We cannot invade, we cannot plunder, we cannot exploit, nor should we ever aspire to do so. For Africa, which still bears the deep scars of colonial extraction, the Western model is not just undesirable; it is impractical. We need a new, just, peaceful, and self-driven path to modernization.
This is precisely why China’s journey is not just inspiring — it is indispensable as a valuable reference, as we chart our collective future this Africa Day.
China’s Path: A modernisation model Africa can learn from
China did not rise through invasion, occupation, or exploitation. It did not build its factories by robbing other nations. It achieved its miracle through struggle, unity, sacrifice, hard work, self-reliance, and reform.
For Africa, this is revolutionary.
China’s 200 years of trauma, resilience, and renewal prove that modernization does not equal Westernisation. A nation can achieve industrialization, technological advancement, and prosperity without losing its cultural soul, without invading others, and without surrendering its sovereignty.
In particular, the reform and opening-up launched in late 1978 offers an invaluable blueprint. It was a turning point where a proud, ancient civilisation embraced progress without abandoning its identity. It opened to the world without being dominated by it. It absorbed global capital, technology, and experience while retaining full control of its development direction.
This is the model Africa needs: modernization with dignity, industrialisation with sovereignty, development without exploitation.
China’s journey brings hope, confidence, and direction for Africa
What makes China’s story so transformative is not just its success today — it is its humble, painful starting point. China was once weak, humiliated, divided, and left behind. Yet it rose.
In a world that often tells Africa we are too late, too broken, or too dependent, China’s rise delivers a different message — a message we embrace on May 25:
If China could rise from the ashes, so can we.
If China could end poverty, so can we.
If China could build its own future, so can we.
China’s struggle gives Africa hope.
China’s achievements give Africa confidence.
China’s path gives Africa direction.
Five strategic lessons for Africa: From inspiration to action
To turn hope into tangible progress, we must translate inspiration into deliberate action. China’s journey offers five profound, actionable, and transformative lessons for Africa’s policymakers, thinkers, and citizens.
First: Sovereignty is our most precious asset — protect it above all else.
Even at its weakest moments, China refused to trade national dignity for aid or investment. For Africa, this means rejecting all forms of conditional cooperation, every external attempt to dictate our policies, and any partnership that undermines our sovereignty. China’s support through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Focac) is widely welcomed precisely because it respects our independence. The lesson is unshakable: a nation without sovereignty can never be truly free, prosperous, or in control of its own destiny.
Second: Development must follow a natural sequence — there are no shortcuts to real strength.
China did not rush into high-tech industries before feeding its people or building basic industries. It prioritized agriculture, land reform, food security, and basic manufacturing before pursuing advanced technology. Too many African countries chase skyscrapers before stable electricity, digital economies before reliable water supply, and global influence before national unity. China teaches us: real development unfolds step by step. Skip critical stages, and you build a house of cards.
Third: Infrastructure is not a cost — it is the backbone of our future.
China built high-speed railways, highways, ports, and digital networks before becoming fully affluent, because it understood infrastructure unlocks trade, industry, and connectivity. Africa must abandon the defeatist mindset that we “cannot afford” long-term national infrastructure. Strategic investment in rail, energy, ports, and digital connectivity is not debt — it is our lifeline to the modern economy.
Fourth: We need a visionary state and a dynamic marketplace — not a false Western binary choice.
For too long, Africa has been forced to choose between rigid state control and unregulated privatisation. China shows a better way: a capable, strategic state guiding long-term development, paired with a vibrant private sector that creates jobs, drives competition, and fuels innovation. We do not need to copy anyone — we need a system that works for Africans.
Fifth: Think in decades, not election cycles. Greatness requires patience.
China’s renewal took 200 years. Its greatest breakthroughs demanded sacrifice across generations. Africa is constantly pressured to chase quick wins, flashy projects, and short-term political gains. But real transformation requires long-term vision, discipline, and unity. China’s lesson is a call to courage: our future will not be completed in one term. It will be built by successive generations, moving forward together.
China’s unbreakable resolve stems from memory: the pain of occupation, the shame of weakness, the unyielding vow of “Never Again.” This is not aggression—it is self-respect. It is the spirit of a people who refused to be broken.
As an African observer writing on May 25, Africa Day, I speak with deep conviction: there is no one-size-fits-all development model in the world, and every nation has the right to choose a path suited to its own conditions.
The Western model is not our future; colonial paths lead nowhere, dependency is unsustainable, and blind copying is impractical. China’s struggle inspires us, its achievements give us confidence, and its path offers valuable reference — but Africa’s future must ultimately be created, built, and realized by the African people themselves.
Africa does not need to copy China. We need to build a stronger, united, industrialized, sovereign, and prosperous Africa — rooted in our own reality, drawing on useful lessons, leveraging our strengths, and united in self-reliance.
China rose from humiliation to rejuvenation. Now it is Africa’s turn to write our own story of renewal. Africa’s future will not be given — it will be built, by us, for us, in our own way.
*Saxon Zvina is a principal consultant at Skyworld Consultancy Services and a member of the BRI Think Tank. He can be reached at saxon@skyworld.co.zw or via X @saxonzvina2.