January 2017
C H I N A - One Belt One Road Vision- Ethiopia- Tanzania- Zambia
In 1975, China built the $500 million Tanzam Railway from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia, the single longest railway in sub-Saharan Africa. Forty years later, China helped build the first light railway on the continent in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which opened in October 2015.
In April 2016, the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) released its exclusive database of Chinese loans to Africa (2000 to 2014). One of our biggest discoveries was that Chinese loans on the continent mostly go toward building connective infrastructure – roads, railways, and power lines – rather than pursuing natural resources via the petroleum or mining sectors.
Dissecting the Data
Previously, the Rand Corporation, AidData, and Fitch Ratings produced data on Chinese loans to Africa, but in trying to confirm their data, we found many problematic errors. Most frequently, these organizations failed to check whether a project mentioned in a media report actually received funding. This led them to significantly overstate the number and value of Chinese loans. After scouring sources ranging from Chinese government reports to African newspapers in French, Arabic, and Portuguese, and drawing on our network of official sources in Africa, we revealed our own rigorously cross-checked figures, which lead to a number of conclusions.
First, China is only somewhat politically motivated when loaning to African countries. Indeed, recipients must follow the One China policy: the three countries that recognize Taiwan — Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe, and Swaziland — received no loans. But there is little indication that loans are targeted toward client states. Although both Sudan and Zimbabwe are potential client states, only Sudan shows up on the list of the top 10 African recipients of Chinese loans.
Second, we found scarce evidence that Chinese loans are mainly purposed to access natural resources. While the top recipient of Chinese loans was resource-rich Angola, the next recipient was resource-poor Ethiopia, where almost 90 percent of loans went to connective infrastructure in transportation, communication, and power.
Finally, Chinese loans are building the continent. From 2000 to 2014, almost 50 percent of Chinese loans financed the two biggest sectors: transportation (receiving $24.2 billion of loans) and energy (mainly electric power) with $17.6 billion. Roads and railways made up just under 80 percent of loans in transportation. Hydropower, power lines, and gas pipes made up slightly over 80 percent of loans in energy. Taking a closer look, we found that the biggest Chinese loan-financed infrastructure project was Phase I of Kenya’s Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, funded by $3.6 billion of loans. The second largest project was the aforementioned Addis-Djibouti Railway, funded at $2.5 billion. In addition, there is an important distinction on the construction sites of these projects: our data shows that foremen and technicians are generally Chinese but the workers are African, contrary to popular belief.
A Chinese Approach to African Needs
In sub-Saharan Africa, where only 16 percent of roads are paved and 24 percent of people have access to electricity, a lack of connective infrastructure hinders economic prosperity. Appropriately, the Program for Infrastructure Development (PIDA) under the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) prioritizes “regional and continental infrastructure” in its 30 year strategy.
The need for connective infrastructure in Africa is evident, even for the Chinese. Without roads to transport construction equipment or electricity to power manufacturing factories, Chinese contractors’ projects, which originally had big hopes, often don’t materialize. One reason our estimate of Chinese loans is lower than that of others is because we do not count rumored projects that were later canceled or never materialized due to obstacles (including infrastructural ones).
In fact, out of the 1,246 reports of Chinese loan financing to Africa that we analyzed in our database, a significant number did not materialize. In the transport sector, only 47 percent of 233 total projects (worth $49.8 billion) ever materialized. The rest turned out to be mistakes, rumors, cancellations, or “inactive,” meaning an agreement was signed more than five years ago, but the project is still not in implementation. Similarly, in the energy sector, only 61 percent of 221 total projects (worth $30 billion) materialized.
Source: Mizzy Rehman
C H I N A - One Belt One Road Vision- Ethiopia- Tanzania- Zambia
In 1975, China built the $500 million Tanzam Railway from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia, the single longest railway in sub-Saharan Africa. Forty years later, China helped build the first light railway on the continent in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which opened in October 2015.
In April 2016, the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) released its exclusive database of Chinese loans to Africa (2000 to 2014). One of our biggest discoveries was that Chinese loans on the continent mostly go toward building connective infrastructure – roads, railways, and power lines – rather than pursuing natural resources via the petroleum or mining sectors.
Dissecting the Data
Previously, the Rand Corporation, AidData, and Fitch Ratings produced data on Chinese loans to Africa, but in trying to confirm their data, we found many problematic errors. Most frequently, these organizations failed to check whether a project mentioned in a media report actually received funding. This led them to significantly overstate the number and value of Chinese loans. After scouring sources ranging from Chinese government reports to African newspapers in French, Arabic, and Portuguese, and drawing on our network of official sources in Africa, we revealed our own rigorously cross-checked figures, which lead to a number of conclusions.
First, China is only somewhat politically motivated when loaning to African countries. Indeed, recipients must follow the One China policy: the three countries that recognize Taiwan — Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe, and Swaziland — received no loans. But there is little indication that loans are targeted toward client states. Although both Sudan and Zimbabwe are potential client states, only Sudan shows up on the list of the top 10 African recipients of Chinese loans.
Second, we found scarce evidence that Chinese loans are mainly purposed to access natural resources. While the top recipient of Chinese loans was resource-rich Angola, the next recipient was resource-poor Ethiopia, where almost 90 percent of loans went to connective infrastructure in transportation, communication, and power.
Finally, Chinese loans are building the continent. From 2000 to 2014, almost 50 percent of Chinese loans financed the two biggest sectors: transportation (receiving $24.2 billion of loans) and energy (mainly electric power) with $17.6 billion. Roads and railways made up just under 80 percent of loans in transportation. Hydropower, power lines, and gas pipes made up slightly over 80 percent of loans in energy. Taking a closer look, we found that the biggest Chinese loan-financed infrastructure project was Phase I of Kenya’s Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, funded by $3.6 billion of loans. The second largest project was the aforementioned Addis-Djibouti Railway, funded at $2.5 billion. In addition, there is an important distinction on the construction sites of these projects: our data shows that foremen and technicians are generally Chinese but the workers are African, contrary to popular belief.
A Chinese Approach to African Needs
In sub-Saharan Africa, where only 16 percent of roads are paved and 24 percent of people have access to electricity, a lack of connective infrastructure hinders economic prosperity. Appropriately, the Program for Infrastructure Development (PIDA) under the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) prioritizes “regional and continental infrastructure” in its 30 year strategy.
The need for connective infrastructure in Africa is evident, even for the Chinese. Without roads to transport construction equipment or electricity to power manufacturing factories, Chinese contractors’ projects, which originally had big hopes, often don’t materialize. One reason our estimate of Chinese loans is lower than that of others is because we do not count rumored projects that were later canceled or never materialized due to obstacles (including infrastructural ones).
In fact, out of the 1,246 reports of Chinese loan financing to Africa that we analyzed in our database, a significant number did not materialize. In the transport sector, only 47 percent of 233 total projects (worth $49.8 billion) ever materialized. The rest turned out to be mistakes, rumors, cancellations, or “inactive,” meaning an agreement was signed more than five years ago, but the project is still not in implementation. Similarly, in the energy sector, only 61 percent of 221 total projects (worth $30 billion) materialized.
Source: Mizzy Rehman
