Africa-Press – Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s President Taye Atske Selassie, joined African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf this morning in Addis Ababa to address the inaugural Africa–China Entrepreneurs Summit (CAES).
The forum brought together business leaders from across Africa and China, alongside Jiang Feng, Ambassador of China to Ethiopia and the African Union, as well as representatives of the China Chamber of Commerce.
Speaking at the opening session, President Taye emphasized the need to strengthen innovation hubs and deepen technology co-creation between Africa and China.
He underscored that entrepreneurship, innovation, and research collaboration must sit at the core of Africa’s development agenda.
Taye further noted that while governments should establish enabling legal and strategic frameworks, the primary drivers of transformation will be entrepreneurs and innovators working across borders. A key proposal in his remarks was the establishment of joint research and innovation hubs linking African and Chinese expertise.
“These centres would serve as a dedicated ecosystem where Chinese expertise meets African creativity and resourcefulness in artificial intelligence, green energy, mobility, and the digital economy,” he said.
President Taye stressed that future cooperation must go beyond trade to focus on co-development of technologies tailored to African markets, adding that sustainable partnerships must be grounded in dignity, mutual respect, and shared benefit.
On his part, AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf described Africa as a future engine of global growth, driven by its youthful population and vast untapped potential.
He emphasized that trade, private sector dynamism, and entrepreneurship remain central to continental integration and development.
Reflecting on more than two decades of cooperation under the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), he called for deeper collaboration, drawing lessons from China’s agricultural and industrial transformation.
The Chairperson further urged increased Chinese investment, the development of joint value chains, and stronger support for youth and women entrepreneurs, including the institutionalization of the China–Africa Entrepreneurship Alliance with measurable outcomes.
The summit concluded with the signing of 12 strategic agreements spanning infrastructure, renewable energy, and digital trade.
Organizers described the outcome as a shift from diplomatic dialogue toward implementation-focused economic cooperation.
The gathering also reinforced a broader “Made in Africa” industrial vision, positioning value addition, innovation, and technology-driven manufacturing at the center of Africa’s economic future, rather than reliance on raw material exports, ENA learned.
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