Words from on High: The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Chinese Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Year 2023, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 1 - 18, 01.05.2023

Matteo Garofalo

https://doi.org/10.53451/ijps.1169214

Abstract

Çin giderek kendisini küresel bir süper güç olarak öne sürerken, batılı akademisyenler ve politika yapıcılar, ulusun yurtdışındaki eylemlerine karşı her zamankinden daha fazla ihtiyatlı davrandılar. Özel bir endişe alanı, Çin Kuşak ve Yol Girişimi (BRI) tarafından finanse edilen ve yönetilen Sahra Altı Afrika'da büyüyen bir Çin ayak izinin algılanmasıdır. Açık kaynak araştırmasını kullanan bu makale, gerçekten de Çin'in Afrika'daki yatırımının artıp artmadığını belirlemeye çalışıyor. Ek olarak, bu makale, Afrika'daki Çin yatırımının BRI'nin sonucu olup olmadığını ve ne ölçüde olduğunu belirlemeye çalışmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, bu makale, Afrika'daki Çin yatırımının BRI'nin tanıtılmasından bu yana - mantık dışı bir şekilde - azaldığı sonucuna varıyor. Bu makale, Afrika'daki artan Çin varlığının hatalı algısının nasıl bu kadar yaygın olarak kabul görebileceğini ve bunun neden batılı okuyucuların Çinli yetkililerin sözlerini akılsızca yüzeysel değerde almalarının bir sonucu olabileceğini belirlemeye çalışıyor.

Keywords

Kuşak ve Yol Girişimi, Doğrudan yabancı yatırım, Kamu-özel ortaklıkları, Çin Komünist Partisi, Borç tuzağı diplomasisi, Kalkınma finansmanı

Words from on High: The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Chinese Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

As China increasingly asserts itself as a global superpower, western academics and policymakers have grown evermore wary of the nation’s actions abroad. One particular field of concern has involved the perception of a growing Chinese footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa, financed and directed by the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Using open-source research, this paper attempts to determine if, indeed, Chinese investment in Africa is growing. Additionally, this paper attempts to determine if and to what extent Chinese investment in Africa is the result of the BRI. Ultimately, this paper concludes that Chinese investment in Africa has – counterintuitively – decreased since the introduction of the BRI. This paper attempts to establish how the faulty perception of increased Chinese presence in Africa could come to be so commonly accepted, and why this might be the result of western readers unwisely taking the words of Chinese officials at face value.

Keywords

Belt and Road Initiative, Foreign direct investment, Public-private partnerships, Chinese Communist Party, Debt-trap diplomacy, Development finance

References

• Acker, K., Bräutigam, D., & Huang, Y. (2020). Debt Relief with Chinese Characteristics. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3745021
• American Enterprise Institute. (2022). China Global Investment Tracker. https://www.aei.org/china-global-investment-tracker/
• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. (2016, January 16). Articles of Agreement. https://web.archive.org/web/20151227144825/http://www.aiib.org/uploadfile/2015/0814/20150814022158430.pdf
• Chen, W., Chen, X., Hsieh, C., & Song, Z. (2019, March 7). A Forensic Examination of China’s National Accounts. Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/a-forensic-examination-of-chinas-national-accounts/
• Deutsche Welle. (2018, July 21). Chinese President Xi Jinping Pays State Visit to Senegal to Start Four-Nation Tour. https://www.dw.com/en/chinese-president-xi-jinping-pays-state-visit-to-senegal-to-start-four-nation-tour/a-44773904-0
• DiLorenzo, T. (1994, June 1). Economic Fascism. Foundation for Economic Education. https://fee.org/articles/economic-fascism/
• Global Times. (2020, June 17). Full Text: Xi Jinping’s Speech at Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1191977.shtml
• Johnson, J. (2013, June). The Multilateral Debt Trap in Jamaica. Center for Economic and Policy Research. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/165818/jamaica-debt-2013-06.pdf
• Lee, J. (2021, December 3). Researcher Questions China’s Population Data, Says it May be Lower. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/researcher-questions-chinas-population-data-says-it-may-be-lower-2021-12-03/
• Mao, J. (2022, August 18). China’s Trillion-Dollar Research Funds Mostly Spent on Travel and Leisure: Chinese State Media. The Epoch Times. https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinas-trillion-dollar-research-funds-mostly-spent-on-travel-and-leisure-chinese-state-media_4672564.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge
• Pence, M. (2018, October 4). Remarks by Vice President Pence on the Administration’s Policy Toward China. White House Archives. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-vice-president-pence-administrations-policy-toward-china/
• Reuters. (2022, August 9). China Watchdog Investigates Three More Execs Linked to Chip-Focused Big Fund. https://www.reuters.com/technology/china-watchdog-investigates-three-more-execs-linked-chip-focused-big-fund-2022-08-09/
• Russel, D., & Berger, B. (2020, September). Weaponizing the Belt and Road Initiative. Asia Society Policy Institute. https://asiasociety.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/Weaponizing%20the%20Belt%20and%20Road%20Initiative_0.pdf
• Rwangoga, D. (2022, May 25). China’s Belt and Road Initiative: A Curse or Blessing for African Countries. Intergovernmental Research and Policy Journal. https://irpj.euclid.int/articles/chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-a-curse-or-blessing-for-african-countries/
• Savit, A. (2021, March 16). Chinese Communist Regime Now Seen as America’s Greatest Enemy, Doubling 2020 Percentage. Center for Security Policy. https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/chinese-communist-regime-now-seen-as-americas-greatest-enemy-doubling-2020-percentage/
• Silk Road Fund. (2017). Scope of Investment. http://www.silkroadfund.com.cn/enweb/23798/23805/index.html
• Smith, J. (2018, August 9). China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Strategic Implications and International Opposition. The Heritage Foundation. https://www.heritage.org/asia/report/chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-strategic-implications-and-international-opposition
• World Bank. (2022). Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?end=2020&locations=ZG&start=2005
• Wray, C. (2020, July 7). The Threat Posed by the Chinese Government and the Chinese Communist Party to the Economic and National Security of the United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/the-threat-posed-by-the-chinese-government-and-the-chinese-communist-party-to-the-economic-and-national-security-of-the-united-states
• Wu, J. (2013, September 8). Xi Proposes a “New Silk Road” with Central Asia. China Daily. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013xivisitcenterasia/2013-09/08/content_16952228.htm
• Xi, J. (2017, May 14). Work Together to Build the Silk Road Economic Belt and The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. http://2017.beltandroadforum.org/english/n100/2018/0306/c25-1038.html
• Xi, J. (2019, April 26). Working Together to Deliver a Brighter Future For Belt and Road Cooperation. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjdt_665385/zyjh_665391/201904/t20190426_678729.html
• Xie, F. (2021, August 31). Side by Side in Solidarity. Fudan Institute of Belt and Road Global Governance. https://brgg.fudan.edu.cn/en/articleinfo_792.html