The benefits of being closely intertwined with a quickly growing market are important on an economic platform and a political platform. While the economic implications of working with Africa are favorable to China, political ambitions of asserting themselves on the continent become another objective for China. China’s African relations are advantageous both from a political and economic perspective. Other important trade items between China and Africa include manganese, used in steel production, cobalt, and coltan, which is used in electronics. Over one third of Chinese oil is derived from Africa, as well as about 20% of cotton. Even so, the enterprises are important to the Chinese government. A significant portion of Chinese businesses and firms do not necessarily have any relation to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and are solely seeking economic gains in a continent with massive potential. China Africa Research Initiative BlogĬhina is politically and economically motivated. There is a large market opportunity, and China has been the most successful nation in tapping into it. The continent’s economy is expected to be worth up to $5 trillion by 2025. By 2050, it is expected that Africa’s current population of about 1.1 billion people will double to 2.2 billion, with an urban population of 1.3 billion. The project, as a whole, has not been entirely successful.īut why invest in Africa? These are countries that President Trump called “s***hole countries” in 2018, so what does China see in it? Well, Africa has the second fastest-growing urban population in the world. The BRI also has not been entirely effective, with several becoming incomplete or stale. The Jubilee Debt Campaign found that 20% of all debt owed across Africa is to China. In Ethiopia, for example, a railway infrastructure project funded by China cost the country a quarter of its annual budget in 2016. This means that African countries may very well be digging themselves into debt. The BRI is not an aid program but rather a low-interest loan program. There are clear downsides to these projects. In Africa, China funded a $12 billion coastal railway in Nigeria, an $11 billion megaport in Tanzania, a $4.5 billion railway in Ethiopia, and hundreds of other infrastructure projects across the African continent. China’s BRI is often called the “modern-day Silk Road” due to its massive trade implications. Around one-third of this investment has gone into three countries, Nigeria, Angola, and Ethiopia, and the rest goes into ten countries in South and Central Africa.Ĭhina’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), created under President Xi Jinping in 2013, provides China more political and economic power across the world by providing advantageous infrastructure projects to more than 60 countries. Europe’s share has even dropped from 44% to just 34% over the past decade. China has a 40% share in African infrastructure, comparable to the US’ minuscule 7%.
China’s African infrastructure projects are another key factor in the Sino-African relationship. There are over 10,000 Chinese-owned businesses and firms with the combined values reaching over 2 trillion dollars.
As of 2019, China is Africa’s largest trade partner with over $200 billion of annual trade investments. China’s growing presence in Africa and other parts of the world has been an important and daunting factor in international politics and economics over the past two decades.Ĭhina has found a market long overlooked by the United States - Africa. The continent of Africa is the key to economic expansion and increased geopolitical influence. China is becoming a new world power while the United States and Europe find themselves fighting an uphill battle.
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