China offers African countries support to tackle spillover from Middle East conflict
Africa’s economic vulnerability to the Middle East conflict took centre stage in Beijing on Tuesday, as Chinese President Xi Jinping used high-level talks with Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo to signal Beijing’s readiness to stand alongside African nations navigating the war’s economic turbulence.
Xi said the war’s repercussions are increasingly being felt across the African continent and emphasised that China aims to “respond together, promote peace together, and pursue development together” with regional partners, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The two heads of state agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a China-Mozambique community with a shared future in the new era, with Xi noting that the time-honoured friendship between the two countries has set an example for broader China-Africa relations and South-South cooperation.
Beyond bilateral affairs, Xi broadened his remarks to address the continent’s collective exposure to the Middle East crisis. He urged China and African countries to jointly call for a ceasefire and encouraged the broader international community to uphold what he described as “genuine multilateralism.”
The appeal carries particular weight as the conflict continues to reverberate far beyond the region. Rising oil prices are squeezing African economies that depend heavily on imported fuel, threatening to weaken currencies, widen trade deficits, and push inflation higher. Higher energy costs feed quickly into transport and food prices, adding pressure to government finances already stretched thin across much of the continent.
Among the economies most exposed, the Democratic Republic of the Congo faces an especially steep challenge. Despite holding vast mineral wealth, the country relies substantially on fuel imports and has limited domestic refining capacity, leaving it acutely vulnerable to energy price shocks and ongoing currency instability.
Yet the same crisis reshaping Africa’s economic risks is simultaneously elevating the continent’s strategic profile in global energy logistics. As Iraq and Gulf states accelerate efforts to develop alternative trade routes around the Strait of Hormuz following recent disruptions, corridors running through and around Africa are drawing renewed attention.
The Red Sea in particular is gaining importance as a critical artery for international energy flows. Countries such as Egypt, Sudan, and Djibouti are emerging as pivotal nodes in this reconfigured landscape — Egypt through its control of the Suez Canal, and Djibouti by deepening its role as a key logistics and transit hub connecting regional and global trade networks.
Xi called on both sides to uphold the principles for peace, maintain the resolve for development, and promote win-win cooperation — framing China’s engagement with Africa not merely as economic partnership, but as a shared response to a shifting and increasingly fragile global order.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah