Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Global South strategic cooperation

ZeEa5KPul

Colonel
Registered Member
The continent of Africa has a median age of 19.7 years old, which is the youngest worldwide.

Which means, the African continent (and the African Union as a whole) is packed full of manpower, energy and potential to become a powerful bloc on the world stage in the future.
Packed full of manpower, energy, and potential, huh? What's the literacy rate, level of education, STEM graduates as a percentage of population, political stability, infrastructure investment, etc.?

This is the same "demographic dividend" drivel I see Indians spout, but at least they have the excuse of formally being a country. I see the African continent packed full of famines, humanitarian disasters, and 19.7 year-old cannon fodder for civil wars.
 

ACuriousPLAFan

Colonel
Registered Member
Packed full of manpower, energy, and potential, huh? What's the literacy rate, level of education, STEM graduates as a percentage of population, political stability, infrastructure investment, etc.?

This is the same "demographic dividend" drivel I see Indians spout, but at least they have the excuse of formally being a country. I see the African continent packed full of famines, humanitarian disasters, and 19.7 year-old cannon fodder for civil wars.
One important thing that I do appreciate about Africans in general is that they tend to have more pragmatic and realistic views on the conditions which they are facing at present, and less about having sense of hubris and chest-beating like many in India do.

That's among the reasons many African nations joined the Belt-&-Road Initiative, unlike India.
22_03_BRI-Countries.png
 
Last edited:

ZeEa5KPul

Colonel
Registered Member
One important thing that I do appreciate about Africans in general is that they tend to have more pragmatic and realistic views on the present conditions which they are facing, and less about having sense of hubris and chest-beating like many in India do.

That's among the reasons many African nations joined the Belt-&-Road Initiative but India chose not to.
View attachment 102205
First, LOL at Ukraine signing a BRI MoU. They really like to eat at every table, don't they.

I wish Africa the best and hope it develops and raises its people's standard of living. However, I see a lot of naivety in what you did by drawing a circle around an arbitrary collection of people, calculating the population and average age, and then proclaiming that this group has a lot of potential. That ignores the vast ethnic, cultural, religious, linguistic, national, and political differences between Africans (which holds for India as well, despite the fact that it's formally a country) and most importantly, it ignores the central role of Chinese governance in China's growth. If China had not developed its uniquely capable system of government over millennia, it would have had no hope of accomplishing what it accomplished.

It's noteworthy that the only populations outside the West that managed to industrialize are those in the Sinic cultural sphere.
 

ACuriousPLAFan

Colonel
Registered Member
First, LOL at Ukraine signing a BRI MoU. They really like to eat at every table, don't they.

I wish Africa the best and hope it develops and raises its people's standard of living. However, I see a lot of naivety in what you did by drawing a circle around an arbitrary collection of people, calculating the population and average age, and then proclaiming that this group has a lot of potential. That ignores the vast ethnic, cultural, religious, linguistic, national, and political differences between Africans (which holds for India as well, despite the fact that it's formally a country) and most importantly, it ignores the central role of Chinese governance in China's growth. If China had not developed its uniquely capable system of government over millennia, it would have had no hope of accomplishing what it accomplished.

It's noteworthy that the only populations outside the West that managed to industrialize are those in the Sinic cultural sphere.
Sure, if you want to take my words at face value, then so be it.
 

TK3600

Captain
Registered Member
Packed full of manpower, energy, and potential, huh? What's the literacy rate, level of education, STEM graduates as a percentage of population, political stability, infrastructure investment, etc.?

This is the same "demographic dividend" drivel I see Indians spout, but at least they have the excuse of formally being a country. I see the African continent packed full of famines, humanitarian disasters, and 19.7 year-old cannon fodder for civil wars.
Africa is not far off from India when it comes to literacy.
 

tphuang

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
VIP Professional
Registered Member
interesting to see politico critiquing on this very weak US/EU counter to BRI
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
can't say I disagree with its premise.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
Other one to consider is Saudi Arabia and just influence in the Middle East. People are catching on. Next month's visit is very important.

Saudis are looking for cyber tech transfer from China
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

and missile interception tech from China
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Let's see what other tech they will sell to the Middle East countries.
 

tphuang

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
VIP Professional
Registered Member
It's always interesting for me to see how eager Russia is in using Yuan in their trading. This time, with Brazil.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
If Russia forces more countries to pay them in Yuan for energy and other resources, Yuan will continue to climb in its importance (at least for trading resources/energy).

last month, Yuan became the most traded currency on Russian exchange. So for Russian, CNH is already their reserve currency. Now, China just needs to push this across more countries.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

but for Yuan to play a bigger role, they need to open up their bond market and financial market more and lift some restrictions on Yuan
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
The biggest difference is in RCEP countries
In the first three quarters, the ABC conducted about 800 billion yuan of cross-border yuan settlements for the trading and direct investment sectors, up 15 percent year-on-year. Among the total, 130 billion yuan in settlement services was for customers in the RCEP, up 27 percent, Zhang said.
 

TK3600

Captain
Registered Member
It's always interesting for me to see how eager Russia is in using Yuan in their trading. This time, with Brazil.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
If Russia forces more countries to pay them in Yuan for energy and other resources, Yuan will continue to climb in its importance (at least for trading resources/energy).

last month, Yuan became the most traded currency on Russian exchange. So for Russian, CNH is already their reserve currency. Now, China just needs to push this across more countries.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

but for Yuan to play a bigger role, they need to open up their bond market and financial market more and lift some restrictions on Yuan
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
The biggest difference is in RCEP countries
China is an export country so I do not expect Yuan to beat USD or Euro as world reserve. However there is no good reason it should be below Yen and Pound.
 
Top