China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Will it Make or Mar Development in the Central and West Africa Subregions?

Abstract

The West, chiefly Europe, left political footmarks in Africa from the Colonial Era, along with varying economic footprints and surviving engagements in the immediate Post-colonial Era. However, the relationships between Africa and her former colonial masters have hardly yielded much to the former following the wave of independence, leading to the perception of failed relationships. This perception of failure to deliver on their undertakings has left Africa with only one option—China. The latter has been addressing some of Africa’s urgent infrastructure needs in return for natural resources and agricultural products. These engagements on the surface appear to be good business, but on further examination seem questionable notably as it relates to debt distress on vulnerable economies. To increase her footprint within the continent, China extended her Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to most African nations who have signed a memorandum of understanding for future development projects. Though the commitments usually are unspecified, China’s investments have seen rapid growth since the early 2000s, largely owing to the implementation of the BRI. The memoranda have had the potential to strengthen ties with partner nations. The expansion to include Africa in its economic participation in the BRI has left the West questioning China’s motives while reinforcing suspicions about possible future US-China conflict. The impact of BRI on the African continent is quite visible in all the subregions, especially in their improved gross domestic products. A burning question has been whether these partnerships represent win-win relationships for sustainable growth or debt-growth dynamics.

China Belt and Road Initiative: Give-and-Take of Infrastructure Development in the North Africa Subregion

“…The infrastructure gap identified by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in 2018 was estimated at US$112 billion annually (Risberg, 2019). Currently, less than half of this amount is being financed according to Dzekashu and Anyu (2020). Furthermore, -this investment gap…[presented] a unique opportunity for the US and the West to engage with their African… [partners] to offer an alternative to what has become questionable Chinese investment practices‖ (Dzekashu & Anyu, 2020, p. 21).…”

“…The scale of projects is huge especially with the rebranding of infrastructure projects completed by China before 2013 in member nations (Zou, 2019). AS previously indicated, World Journal of Business and Management ISSN 2377-4622 2021 China's approach to development partnership in Africa has been viewed with sheer mistrust (Dzekashu & Anyu, 2020), due to the vagueness of the agreements, therefore conjuring the possibility of debt distress in many borrower countries (Hurley, Morris, & Portelance, 2018); an issue that critics have not relented on highlighting.…”

“…The paper further provides an assessment of select projects and examination of the economic prospects in handpicked member-nations that have benefitted substantially from BRI engagements within the identified subregion. According to Dzekashu and Anyu (2020), the perception of the West about China's commitments in Africa differs from the views of China and most African nations who have benefitted from these engagements and argue that China has stood in the infrastructure gap as an alternative to the West. The question that this paper seeks to address is whether commitments under BRI lead to constructive development outcomes in the North Africa Subregion.…”

“…China is strategically ramping up engagement with countries such as Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco, all located at the intersection of the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Dzekashu and Anyu (2020) underscore that much emphasis on the projected negative outcomes of the BRI engagements in Africa tend to shroud the benefits of economic and infrastructure development.…”

“…1 Times, 2011. The current US administration on its part in 2018 announced a plan to invest US$60 billion in African economies, leading critics to express doubts about the renewed interest of the US in Africa especially after the reproachful comments by President Trump about the continent (Dzekashu & Anyu, 2020). The US in the last decade has gradually disengaged from the Middle East, and in the same timeframe, Europe has battled internal challenges, yielding to China as the new actor who has slowly been exerting larger influence across the African continent.…”