Author : L. Over the last two decades, China has established a significant economic presence in most African countries. Its lucrative economic investment package, flexible political approach, and focused big-ticket development projects under the Belt and Road Initiative BRI provide an ostensibly massive opportunity to African countries.
However, the unilateral nature of the initiative, the lack of transparency and accountability to African countries, and the absence of projects that directly benefit locals have raised suspicions and fuelled local resentment. There are increasing instances of African countries cancelling or postponing BRI projects over rising debt concerns.
This brief discusses the nature of the BRI, specifically in the African continent, and its advantages and disadvantages for the host countries. The ongoing COVID pandemic has not only created a global public health crisis but is also threatening to accelerate a global economic slowdown and trigger conflicts between nations over access to resources.
Almost every nation has been impacted negatively β either by the outbreak of the virus, or by the sudden disruption of global trade flows, or by rising bilateral tensions.
More than 50 percent [1] of the international community has demanded an investigation into the origin and spread of the virus, putting the spotlight firmly on China. Is China pursuing it unilaterally or co-opting other countries into the initiative? Will China be hard-nosed or more accommodating with its strategy in Africa? With its involvement in the infrastructure sector beginning in the s, China has established an active presence across the African continent. Financing from western countries or institutions is usually accompanied by strict conditionalities, an inconvenience for poorer African countries.
