One of the key takeaways from the recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) conference that took place in Dakar last month is that, unlike previous FOCACs, there’s very little consensus over whether the event signaled that China’s backing away from Africa or deepening its commitment to the continent. 

The prevailing media narrative in the U.S. and Europe is that China’s unwillingness to match the $60 billion financial pledge that it made 2015 and 2018 provides a clear indication Beijing is either losing interest in the continent or concerned about “criticism of debt traps.”