How is Africa flourishing economically under the BRI?

Byline: Usama Ibrahim

In 2013, after assuming power, the incumbent President of China, Xi Jinping, announced the One Belt One Road Initiative, later known as the Belt and Road Initiative. Through this project, the government of China projects to restore the old silk route for smooth and enhanced trade with Eurasian nations. Not only this, but President Xi also announced a new silk route connecting South East Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Latin America through rails, roads, and a maritime silk route. After eight years since the project was announced, the government of China has achieved many milestones in Asian, European, and African regions. However, no region benefited from the Belt and Road Initiative like Africa. For centuries, the African continent has been subjected to colonization, dictatorship, aristocracy, and exploitation. However, the BRI seems to be the silver lining for the people and governments operating in Africa.

Since 2013, under the flagship Belt and Road Initiative, the government of China has invested billions of dollars in African land. Furthermore, Beijing has also contributed to aid and grant and the provision of loans from China to Africa on either negligible or no interest rates. For now, the BRI seems to be the only way for Africa to remove the monkey of debt and poverty from its back. An in-depth insight into the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and how it can help Africa flourish can be gauged with the following characteristics: Under the Belt and Road Initiative, the total FDI stock of China in Africa during the fiscal year 2019 amounted to around $110 billion, accounting for 20% of African economic growth. Since 2012, Beijing is continuously overwhelming Washington's FDI in the African region. Furthermore, most of the FDI rendered to the African region through the Chinese government and its state-owned firms comes with nominal interest rates, helping Africa to grow and flourish shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the world.

In Africa, around 350 million middle-class people inhabit with an urban population of 44.7% as per the statistics of 2019. Following this, Chinese investment in Africa will not only help the people living in the slums of Africa find high-paying jobs, but they will also create an equilibrium between the urban and rural zone as only 25% of irrigable land is irrigated every year and the rest 75% remain barren due to lack of investment, water, and resources. Furthermore, a large amount of...