FIVE years after Chinese President, Xi Jinping, presented the Global Development Initiative (GDI) – a socio-economic and developmental blueprint to the 76th United Nations General Assembly, over 130 countries and international organizations have expressed support and participated in its cooperation. Also, about 100 countries and international and regional organizations have signed GDI cooperation documents with China.

Such degree of acceptance, support and momentum gathered within its first five years, reflects the global yearnings for developmental guidelines at a time the world is confronted by conflicts and wars. Through GDI, China has once again, demonstrated its stance on inclusive development and brought its philosophy of community with shared future for humankind to the global discourse.

In September 2021, Xi unveiled the GDI as a response to a polarized world with an ever-increasing socio-political inequality and developmental imbalances. Five years after, GDI has transcended diplomatic concept into an institutional reality attracting over 100 countries and international organizations, including Nigeria and other African countries.

Reasons for GDI’s success story is not far fetched, Beijing’s huge financial commitment in various development funds and millions of capacity-building projects have positioned it as the “development pillar” of global governance vision.

As a people-centered development initiative, the Global South countries considered GDI imperative and were swift to endorse it without recourse to the Western Capital questions about standards, debt and transparency.

As both a development framework and foreign policy tool, GDI has refocused international cooperation on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, prioritizing practical implementation, South-South cooperation and economic growth models.

Through the GDI, China’s socio-economic agenda that places economic development as the thrust for addressing international challenges, was sold to the world with its broader objective towards poverty reduction, food security, health, education, climate/energy, industrialization, digital economy, connectivity and social welfare of developing nations. This, it has pursued effectively by framing initiatives to act as concrete delivery mechanism, working through the United Nations and other relevant bodies.

One of the attractions of GDI borders on its neutrality to political strings and emphasis on growing quick impact projects often referred to “small and beautiful”, which are bedrocks of national economies. Its no governance reform demands, democratic-oriented outlook as well as human rights and fiscal reforms approaches, endears it to the world.

While not replacing the famous Belt and Road Initiative, which deals with hard infrastructure, GDI targets soft development as captured in the SDGs with its broader goals centering on re-balancing global development.

For developing countries, especially among the Global South, GDI’s pledged $4bn fund with China Development Bank/Exim Bank’s co-financing provides the expected soft landing through new liquidity for life-impacting projects.

As one of the supporting countries in Africa, Nigeria, which through its early endorsement of the initiative, positioned itself as a key African partner, has harvested immensely from it through its numerous projects in the country, including provision of boreholes for areas that lacked portable water, digital classrooms, hybrid rice farms and hospital equipment.

Thus, the then Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – renamed Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, described Juncao technology mushroom farms as a six-month food security win.

Juncao Technology is an agricultural and ecological initiative introduced to Nigeria through bilateral cooperation with China. Developed by Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, the project utilizes multi-purpose giant grass (Juncao) to grow edible mushrooms, produce cost-effective livestock feed and combat desertification and soil erosion.

Also, under its skills and technology transfer programmes, China has pledged 100,000 training slots by 2030. Analysists described such opportunity as an employability currency, particularly for countries that are beset with youth unemployment.

For a country that is struggling towards achieving food security and youths unemployment, such projects under GDI, which holds about 2 million jobs, remains laudable and commendable by Nigeria.

Speaking recently at the High-Level Meeting on Global Development Initiative jointly organized by China and U.N. agencies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, pledged the country’s renewed commitment, not only to global development but also to explore ways to make such development sustainable.

The Minister recalled that GDI came as answer to the question of where global development cause was headed by providing China’s insight and contributions to reinvigorating global development.
The Minister was elated that the initiative has transformed from a Chinese proposal into a global accord, and from a statement of goals into concrete actions in support of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Five years on, the GDI has played a greater role in driving global development. President Xi Jinping presided over a High-Level Dialogue on Global Development. China has held high-level meetings on the GDI during four consecutive UNGA sessions and launched the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development. These follow-up actions have enabled more policy dialogues and exchange of ideas.

“To date, more than 130 countries and international organizations have expressed support for the GDI and participated in its cooperation, and nearly 100 countries and international and regional organizations have signed GDI cooperation documents with China. The philosophy of putting development first has found wider support, and the global partnership for development has gained stronger momentum.”

Wang further announced that within a short interval, GDI has developed better cooperation mechanisms with its ‘Group of Friends’, which currently span over 88 member countries, making it an important contributor to global development through a steady stream of cooperation outcomes.

To support implementation of over 1,800 small scale enterprises and capacity building for over 200,000 people in different professions, Chinese government mobilized over $23 billion.
As friends of GDI multiply, Wang used the occasion to reiterate the need for enhanced solidarity and cooperation towards a peaceful environment for development. He also urged supporters of the initiative to uphold the international system that is centered around the U.N as well as the international order based on international law.

This has become imperative considering the recent attempt by Western powers to whittle down the powers of the UN through the creation of bodies and activities that are not in tandem with the international based order. There have also been further attempt to weaken the body by poor response to annual dues, a situation that threatened projects implementation by the body.

To ensure continuity and smooth running of its programmes, some analysts have called on China to double up as the chief financier of the UN to ensure continuity of its programmes, especially those that center on health, rights protection and education.

The objective of Wang’s recommendations and clarion call was therefore to ensure that every effort geared towards a generally stable international environment and favorable conditions for global development cooperation are not compromised.

Interestingly, to advance the interest of developing countries among other considerations, China has continued to support the U.N. in its pursuit for reform and revitalization.

Wang also called for a combined efforts towards accelerating progressive implementation of SDGs, which he feared, has witnessed poor or delayed enforcement.

He added: “We should put development firmly at the center of international agenda and make more resources available for global development. As a major and responsible developing country, China will continue to share more financial and technological resources with other developing countries, and undertake extensive bilateral, multilateral and trilateral cooperation to help tackle uneven and inadequate development across the globe.

He equally recommended mutual learning, openness and cooperation if the digital and AI divides are to be bridged.

“We should champion openness and mutual learning to boost innovation as the engine for development. We should champion openness and cooperation in a strong push to eliminate the digital and AI divides between North and South.”

Wang described the recent coming together of China and 28 other countries (including 10 African countries as founding members) to form the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), as a major move by China to answer the call of the Global South for the promotion of AI development and governance.

To this, Wang pledged China’s readiness to deepen collaboration on innovation with all parties in order to help the Global South effectively seize new opportunities and tackle new challenges.

He also called for a deepened reform of the global economic and financial architecture, promotion of cooperation on development financing and the sincerity of developed countries to deliver on their development financing commitments.

“As the U.N. gets ready to craft the post-2030 agenda in September 2027, we should make policy preparations and better communicate and coordinate with one another to shape a new development agenda that better reflects the needs of the Global South”, he said.

Generally, it is imperative to state that GDI at five is developing at a fast pace, delivering quick, viable projects in agriculture, education, health and energy.

Its beauty lies in its ability to provide quick answers to developmental challenges where traditional aid is slow.

For Nigeria and other developing countries, GDI has provided tools for job creation, skills acquisition and rural development initiatives without political sentiments.