African economy and financial sector
Paper 7: Green financial development, institutions, and sustainable economic growth.
By Prof. Joshua Abor, University of Ghana
Discussant: Dr Frangton Chiyemura, Open University
Paper 8: Bank stability, bank business model and the financial resource curse.
By Dr Sandrine Kablan, Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC)
Discussant: Dr Pia Weiss, University of Nottingham
Paper 9: Modelling monetary and fiscal policy to achieve climate goals in Africa.
By Prof. Yener Altunbas & Dr Xiaoxi Qu, University of Bangor Discussant: Dr George Kararach, African Development Bank (AfDB)
China’s infrastructure investment in Africa
is immense. In 2005, only four African
countries received infrastructure investment
from China, while by 2023, this figure had
risen to 46. The high growth of China’s
infrastructure investment in Africa in the past
two decades is primarily attributed to the
pre-Covid period (61.45% from 2005-2019).
We have seen a decline in this investment
(-23.49% from 2020-2023) due to ongoing
adjustment of China’s model of operating
overseas infrastructure investment since
Covid-19.
Several factors contribute to this adjustment.
First, in the past, China’s overseas
infrastructure projects are often undertaken
within an enclave system, including financing, procurement, construction, and
loan repayment. The broken supply chains
during Covid-19 made this operation
impossible. Second, emerging domestic
economic problems since Covid-19 have
also become obstacles to China’s further
economic growth, reducing China’s financial
capacity. Third, the risk management of
China’s overseas infrastructure investment
was weak in the past. China has determined
the destination and the scale of investment
mainly based on diplomatic ties, geopolitical alignment, and political relationships with
recipient countries, but negative shocks
such as Covid-19 have brought about real
consequences when host countries fail to
repay China’s infrastructure lending. Fourth,
geopolitics has become more important
than ever in China’s overseas economic
operations. The international community,
including the US, EU, UK, and other OECD
countries, has all enhanced regulatory
scrutiny of Chinese investment due to national
security concerns, leading to stronger public
resistance to China’s economic activities in
host countries. Consequently, trade wars and
the competition for critical resources have
resulted in a revamp of the global supply
chains. Moreover, geopolitics also brought in
more rivals to compete with China’s financing
in emerging and developing economies.
What do these changes imply for Africa?
We will bring together researchers, policy
makers and practitioners to discuss issues
surrounding the China-Africa economic
interactions through the lens of China’s
infrastructure investment. The conference
is hosted by the SOAS Centre for Global
Finance, and co-organised by ODI and the
African Economic Research Consortium
(AERC).
17 сен 2024
