Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Africa and China's Belt and Road Initiative

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council posted in mid-July 2017 a commentary titled "Is China's BRI Programme Aligned with Africa's Long-Term Interests" by Mark Ronan, a correspondent in Cape Town.

After posing the question whether China's interests in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) correspond with those of Africa, the author concludes that they largely do. There are, however, two flaws in the analysis. Most of the Chinese infrastructure projects cited as part of the BRI in Africa were either announced or under construction before the BRI was even announced. The infrastructure projects are also referred to as Chinese investments (as in FDI?) whereas they are projects financed by loans from China or international banks that must be paid back and where there is no ownership component by China.