The academic symposium “Francophone Countries in Africa: Development and Cooperation” which took place in Aug 26, 2018 was successfully held in Yunnan University and it was sponsored by Asia-Africa Society of China, the African Research Center of Yunnan University, and the editorial department of the West Asia and Africa in the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Science. Wu Lei, Dean of the Institute of International Relations of Yunnan University, presided over the opening ceremony. Yang Zeyu, Vice President of Yunnan University attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
The academic symposium was attended with a total of more than 80 people, such as former Chinese Ambassador to Eritrea and Rwanda Shu Zhan, the editorial director of West Asia and Africa in the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Science An Chunying, the secretary general of Asia-Africa Society of China Zhan Shiming and other scholars and related people from all over the country, such as Beijing Language and Culture University, Yunnan University,University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China Foreign Affairs University, University of International Relations, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Wuhan University, Shanghai Institute for International Studies, Ocean University of China and China-Africa Trade Research Center.
The academic symposium launched a series of in-depth discussions and studies on related topics and contents as for instance “National and regional studies on Francophone Countries in Africa”, “the Analysis of Foreign Relations of Francophone Countries in Africa” and “ Research on Francophone Countries in Africa”.
Mr. Li Zhenyan, CEO of
China-Africa Trade Research Center and Distinguished Research Fellow of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, was invited to attend the conference and made a keynote speech with a theme called “Brand Construction of Francophone Countries in Africa: Experiences and Problems”. Mr. Li Zhenyan introduced the overall status of brand construction in francophone countries in Africa and referred the status quo of brand construction for Chinese enterprises in the region. He summarized the experience and lessons for Chinese enterprises' practical exploration in brand construction and launched the initiative “Belt and Road Initiative·Brand Construction” in this academic symposium with a purpose of helping Chinese products enter into African market and further promoting the branding construction of Chinese-made product in Africa.
Since the 21st century, cooperation between China and francophone countries in Africa has entered a new historical period. At present, there are 21 African countries with French as its official language ( or one of them) and five African countries with French as its common language. The total area of francophone countries in Africa accounts for about half of Africa's total area, with a population of about 250 million (2010 data). From this point of view, the francophone countries in Africa occupy half of the African countries in terms of quantity, and the African francophone market cannot be ignored. This market has also become the target market that Chinese enterprises are actively exploring.
According to the China-Africa Trade Research Center, in the process of opening up African francophone market, foreign companies didn’t pay much attention of brand output and weak awareness of Chinese brand. This has contributed to the lack of awareness of Chinese brands by African consumers. Therefore, it is of vital importance that Chinese enterprises put their efforts to promote the brand Construction in African francophone market and it is also a leading move to promote the further development of China-Africa trade. To this end, the China-Africa Trade Research Center, major African media and important African industry associations jointly proposed the initiative “Belt and Road Initiative·Brand Construction” , which is aimed at promoting the brand construction of Chinese manufacturing and Chinese companies in francophone countries in Africa and establishing a vision of branding output— “China Enterprises in Africa, Chinese Brands in Africa”.
With the adjustment of the global trade structure, the export market of Chinese enterprises has gradually turned to the African market. Moreover, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2018 Beijing Summit on September 3 will undoubtedly promote the development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. Therefore, promoting the branding construction of Chinese products in African francophone market is bound to become the core focus of “going global” strategy of Chinese enterprises. So China-Africa Trade Research Center is willing to propose the initiative “Belt and Road Initiative·Brand Construction” to promote the African brand construction of Chinese enterprises with the efforts of all parties.
