Africa is the main focus of China’s flagship economic cooperation program, which is reviving after a hiatus during the worldwide pandemic, according to a British news agency Reuter’s examination of credit, trade, and investment data.
Chinese officials have been pointing to the record two-way commerce and billions of dollars allocated to new development projects as proof of their determination to support modernization efforts on the continent and promote “win-win” collaboration.
However, the information shows a more nuanced picture of the relationship, one that has fallen short of some of Beijing’s hype surrounding President Xi Jinping’s plan to create an infrastructural network that connects China to the rest of the globe through the Belt and Road Initiative.
According to the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University in Australia, Chinese investment in Africa rose 114% in the previous year, although the majority of this investment was concentrated on minerals that are crucial to the global energy revolution and China’s efforts to boost its own struggling economy.
Trade was also dominated by those minerals and oil. Africa’s trade deficit with China has exploded while attempts to increase other imports from the continent, such as manufactured goods and agricultural products, have failed.
The primary source of funding for infrastructure in Africa, Chinese sovereign lending, is now at its lowest point in twenty years. Furthermore, public-private partnerships, or PPPs, have not yet gained traction in Africa despite being promoted by China as its new preferred investment instrument worldwide.
