Africa, home to over 1.4 billion people with an infrastructure deficit of more than $360 billion, has an opportunity to take strategic advantage of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Originally focused on Asia and Europe, the BRI celebrates its 10th anniversary having expanded to Africa, Oceania, and Latin America.
President Xi Jinping launched an ambitious $1 trillion vision in 2013 over a ten-year period to promote connectivity on land and sea, inspired by the ancient Chinese Silk Road of the Han Dynasty era.
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African countries that embraced this initiative intend to use it as a tool to spur their development and prosperity.
The roll out of the initiative has been marred by controversy on matters procurement corruption, debt, and environmental concerns.
In Kenya for example, the 472-kilometer Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) built at a cost of $ 3.8 billion is alleged to have been overpriced and there is npo value for money.
The BRI has facilitated efficient connectivity in Asia, Europe and Africa. Its focus is an answer to global infrastructures gap through the constructing of modern highways, airports, railways, bridges, power generation and industrial parks.
Initially known as the One Belt and One Road, its key activities include infrastructure development —highways, ports, airports and railways.
It also entailed digital connectivity; trade and investment, trade agreements; economic growth; people to people exchanges; and environmental sustainability.
The African Union’s Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa has 51 priority infrastructure back-bone projects in energy, water, transport and Information and Communication Technology which can be pitched to the BRI.
Addressing the infrastructure deficit in Africa will reduce the cost of doing business and facilitate intra-Africa and international trade.
China’s own score card on the 10th anniversary of the BRIC indicates over 3,000 co-operation projects; increase of trade in goods among countries along the BRI from $1.04 trillion in 2013, to $2.07 trillion; $270 billion investments; creation of 421,000 jobs; and establishment of 84 China – Europe freight train routes connecting 211 cities in 25 European countries and 20 countries with yuan swap arrangements.
China–Africa trade volumes increased from $210 billion in 2013 to $282 billion in 2022. Chinese infrastructure projects peaked at $78.4 billion in 2018 and direct investment in 2021 at $3.74 billion. The China financing largesse may not last forever. How else can Africa situate its interests and evolve a win-win?
The BRI is a major actor in offering an alternate development model and a multipolar World.
Africa’s framing of the world should be based on its own unique history and circumstances; be adaptable, flexible, and champion cultural pluralism.
Under the current rigid and inflexible West-led world order characterised by unquestioned democracies and autocracies mindset, Africa finds itself unable to grow its own monetary system, address its huge infrastructure gaps and optimise its vast natural resources.
Africa can create new global institutions on finance, and trade that favour continent’s vast natural resource endowment by taking strategic advantage of the BRI.
With a purposeful, well-thought-out sense of agency, the continent can take advantage of the dynamic, complex, and diverse unfolding multipolar phenomenon to cure its colonial hangover and rethink current public policy models that hold back possibilities for the continent to fully tap its potential.
The BRI, the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, and the BRICS – New Development Bank, offer Africa opportunities to strategise beyond the confines of the traditional Bretton Woods Institutions – the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The BRI is a wakeup call for African agency to consider both the short- and long-term aspirations of the continent in its deals.
The continent through nation-states, regional economic blocs and the African Union should develop a guiding matrix that includes Africans’ core interests; transparency; labour standards; debt management and environment standards as it aspires for a bright future along the Belt and Road Initiative.
As leaders, among the African heads of state and governments troop to Beijing this week for 3rd BRI anniversary, it is imperative that they take advantage of the forum to strike more deals to spur economic development of the continent.
– James Shikwati, is Founder IREN Kenya; [email protected] @shikwatijames
