China’s apparent decision to bail on financing the $2.8 billion AKK pipeline in Nigeria is the latest evidence that Beijing’s strategy to engage the continent has changed, a lot. This pipeline is now the third major project in Nigeria this year that Chinese financiers have walked away from. And it’s happening elsewhere too. In Zimbabwe, China’s largest bank, ICBC, bailed on the $3 billion Sengwa coal-fired power plant.
This is a trend that’s been underway for quite some time as Chinese infrastructure financing fell last year from $11 billion to just $3.3 billion.
The fact is, Africa can no longer count on China to finance its massive infrastructure deficit.
So, the key question now is what comes next?
Sanusha Naidu and Arina Muresan, both researchers at the Pretoria-based foreign policy think tank Institute for Global Dialogue, are asking that same question in their research about the future of Chinese engagement on the continent. Both join Eric & Cobus from Johannesburg to discuss the implications of this new era in China-Africa relations.
