On October 22, 2026, TYCORUN CEO Raymond Li attended the China-Africa Private Sector Cooperation Forum 2026 in Beijing as a guest. The forum was held under the theme "Zero Tariff, New Opportunities: From Smooth Trade to Industrial Co-building," and it brought Chinese private companies together with African government and business representatives to discuss how cooperation can move beyond buying and selling toward building local industries.
Key Takeaways
- The forum's theme moved the conversation from smooth trade to industrial co-building in Africa.
- China's zero-tariff treatment mainly opens the Chinese market to qualifying African goods. It is not a tariff cut on batteries exported to Africa.
- For two- and three-wheeler electrification, the opportunity lies in complete local systems and long-term partnerships, not one-off hardware shipments.
What happened at the forum
The forum was hosted by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and organized by the China-Africa Business Council. The opening session was addressed by leaders of the Federation and by Martin Mbana, Cameroon's ambassador to China and dean of the African diplomatic corps in Beijing, alongside officials from China's foreign and commerce ministries. On the sidelines, Chinese enterprises held business talks with diplomatic representatives from eight African countries, including Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Namibia.
The forum also saw the release of the annual Chinese Investment in Africa 2026 report by the China-Africa Business Council, subtitled Unlocking New Growth Drivers and Practicing Long-termism. The report urges private Chinese companies to make better use of the zero-tariff opening, invest in green and digital sectors, and commit to Africa for the long term.
What the zero-tariff policy actually does
It is worth stating the policy precisely, because it is often summarized too loosely. On May 1, 2026, China extended zero-tariff treatment to all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations. The measure mainly removes duties on qualifying African products entering the Chinese market, subject to rules of origin, and the arrangement is currently scheduled to run until April 30, 2028. China-Africa trade reached a record $348.05 billion in 2025, according to Chinese customs figures reported by China Daily.
For an African exporter, the incentive is clear: easier, cheaper access to the Chinese market. For a Chinese company like TYCORUN, the more relevant signal is the second half of the forum's theme. Officials in both China and Africa have framed the policy as a step toward industrial co-building and local value addition in Africa, not simply a higher volume of goods moving in one direction. (People's Daily)
How TYCORUN reads the opportunity
Our position has not changed, and this forum is a reminder of why it matters. Africa is one of the most important markets for new-energy mobility, but shipping a container of batteries is not the same as building a service that riders rely on every day.
A motorcycle battery-swap system that genuinely serves a local market has to connect several layers at once: the electric two- and three-wheelers, swappable smart batteries, the swap cabinets that store and charge them, a cloud platform that tracks every pack, and the installation, training and after-sales support that keeps the network running. A city does not adopt swapping because hardware arrived at a port. It adopts it when charged batteries are available, accounts and payments work locally, and a local team can fix a cabinet the same day.
That is why TYCORUN supplies a complete battery swap solution rather than single components, and why we work with partners through several cooperation models, depending on each market. The shift we are making in Africa is a deliberate one:
- From product supply to a system solution, with vehicles, batteries, cabinets and software designed to work together.
- From international trade to local partnership, with flexible cooperation models for distributors, dealer groups, fleet operators and other local players.
- From one-off transactions to long-term growth, sizing cabinets and batteries to real local utilization so the unit economics survive after the pilot ends.
The model is already running. In South Africa, MOTAWILL runs battery swapping for delivery riders in Johannesburg and Cape Town on TYCORUN's vehicles, semi-solid swap batteries and cloud platform, with 12-slot swap cabinets and a local team managing day-to-day operations. It shows how a complete system can be deployed in a real African city.
Where the conversation goes next
The direction of travel is clear. The policy emphasis is moving from trade volume to local industries, and in two- and three-wheeler electrification that favors partners who can deploy a full stack, adapt it to local voltages and payment habits, and stay in the market long enough to scale.
If you are an African fleet operator, distributor or dealer group exploring battery swapping, we would like to start from your market's real daily mileage and grid conditions. Tell us about your city and fleet, and our team will scope the vehicles, batteries, cabinets and platform with you.
