Belt and Road Initiative

Description

China’s emphasis on infrastructure development has received support from African leaders. Its focus on infrastructure development in Africa was endorsed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between China and the African Union on 27 January 2015. The agreement outline plans for connecting African countries through transportation infrastructure projects, including modern highways, airports, and high speed railways. At the heart of Belt and Road Initiative lies the creation of an economic land belt that includes countries on the original Silk Road through Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as a maritime “road” that links China’s port facilities with the African coast, pushing up through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. China has from the outset emphasised that the Belt and Road Initiative will be developed within the framework of the five principles. These entails mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; non-aggression; non-interference in each other’s internal affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful coexistence. This volume provides an analysis of this stance by both African and Chinese scholars. Africa through its Agenda 2063 has been driving, among others, the re-industrialisation of its economies, improved connectivity and infrastructure development, diversification of energy sources, technology transfer and skills development. The Belt and Road Initiative provides an alternative path for Africa to realise some of these milestones.

Informations

• Publié par: Africa Institute of South Africa
• Date de parution: 02 novembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780798305280
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

Belt and Road Initiative
Alternative Development Path for Africa
Edited by Thokozani Simelane
and Lavhelesani ManagaBelt and Road Initiative
First Published in 2018 by the
Africa Institute of South Africa
Private Bag X41
Pretoria
South Africa, 0001
ISBN: 978-0-7983-0526-6
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The Africa Institute of South Africa is a think tank and research organisation, focusing on political,
socio-economic, international and development issues in contemporary Africa. The Institute
conducts research, publishes books, monographs, occasional papers, policy briefs and a
quarterly journal – Africa Insight. The Institute holds regular seminars on issues of topical interest. It
is also home to one of the best library and documentation centres world-wide, with materials
on every African country.
For more information, contact the Africa Institute of South Africa at
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Email [e-mail]; or visit our website at http://www.ai.org.zaTable of Contents
Foreword .................................................................................... i
Acknowledgements .................................................................... iii
About the Editors ........................................................................ iv
About the Chapter Contributors ..................................................... v
Abbreviations and Acronyms ........................................................ ix
CHAPTER 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Anil Sooklal, Thokozani Simelane and Jaimal Anand
CHAPTER 2
Unblocking Africa’s underdevelopment through the belt and
road initiative ............................................................................. 7
Ellinor Forje
CHAPTER 3
State of infrastructural development cooperation between
China and Africa ........................................................................ 20
Yuchen Zhi
CHAPTER 4
Attracting investment for infrastructure development in Africa .......... 32
Emmanuel Owusu-Sekyere
CHAPTER 5
Belt and Road Linked Transnational Infrastructure and Resources
in Eastern and Southern Africa ..................................................... 54
Nuša Tukić
CHAPTER 6
Africa-China strategic coalition: a remodelled fnancial model
for infrastructure development .................................................... 73
Adewale Aregbeshola
CHAPTER 7
Relocating China’s manufacturing capacity and industrialisation
to Africa ................................................................................... 89
Chaoqun Lian CHAPTER 8
The belt and road (OBOR) initiative and China-Africa agricultural
cooperation ............................................................................. 101
Jiang Zhida
CHAPTER 9
Reconceptualising peace and security: distributional justice
within Sino-African co-operation and beyond ................................ 118
Stacey Links
CHAPTER 10
People to people interactions: Africans in China – status analysis ...... 151
Cui Xiaotao
CONCLUSION
Merging two developmental visons: Africa’ s agenda 2063
and China’s belt and road initiative .............................................. 159
Anil Sooklal, Thokozani Simelane and Jaimal AnandFOREWORD
The Belt and Road Conference, held at the Durban University of Technology
in November 2015, was a result of a partnership between the Human
Science Research Council (HSRC), the Department of International Relations
and Cooperation (DIRCO), the Chinese Institute for International Studies
(CIIS), and the Confucius Institute at the Durban University of
Technology. After the successful hosting of the first such conference in Africa, this
much-needed book captures the outcomes of the conference and cements
the way forward.
Among issues addressed at the conference was a need to establish
synergies between Africa’s developmental needs and the Belt and Road Initiative.
The major focus of the Belt and Road initiative is on connectivity that goes
beyond borders. It includes sharing of philosophy, culture, people-to-people
interaction, and spiritual values.
The significance of Belt and Road Initiative has become clear through
the Asia Development Bank’s report, which indicates that Asia will require
US$8 trillion in infrastructure financing over the next decade. When this is
linked to current rates of development between Asia and Africa, it is
envisaged that Africa will require an additional investment of US$93 billion per
year until 2025. It is therefore clear that Belt and Road Initiative is a step
in the right direction to unlocking the economic potential of both Africa and
Asia.
In a 2015 publication entitled The Silk Roads: A New History of the
World, Peter Frankopan, outlines the history, and imagines the future, of the
Silk Roads. The analysis sheds light on the stage of history we are currently
in, as we strive to achieve greater interdependence within a multipolar
global paradigm. The book zooms in on the reality that the Silk Road is
not an archaeological concept, instead it represents the natural trade and
diplomatic channels between Asia and Africa.
In his 2013 speech in Astana, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that
for centuries people from the East and the West were able to cooperate
despite differences in race, belief and cultural background. According to
Frankopan’s work this was in essence the nature of the Silk Road,
prompting both prosperity and peace.
The concept of Belt and Road Initiative was formally announced by
President Xi during his visits to central southeast Asia in September and
October of 2013, when he announced the development of the overland ‘Silk
Road Economic Belt’, and the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’. These
concepts have since gained more and more prominence, receiving the attention
i
of experts from all over the world. Various agreements connected to the Belt and Road project have been signed in Europe, central Asia, and Africa.
The plan, based on the historic Silk Road, to connect Asia and Europe, via
Africa, marks a new era of global connectivity that is poised to change the
world.
It is important to note that both President Xi and Premier Li Keqiang
have repeatedly emphasised that the footprint of Belt and Road Initiative
is not restricted to the ancient routes and will adapt to twenty-first century
trade and commercial routes. This opens a discussion on how Africa can
fully participate in the Belt and Road Initiative. The conference attempted to
explore this question, based on various existing initiatives in Africa that are
realigned within the Belt and Road framework. The significance of Africa’s
relevance to Belt and Road Initiative became clear when Premier Li visited
the headquarters of the African Union in 2014. Then chairperson of the
African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, stated that ‘African
people cherish a dream that one day the capitals of Africa will be linked by
high-speed railways’. She added that, as a good friend of Africa, China is
willing to make this dream a reality.
It is envisaged that accelerating the implementation of the Belt and
Road initiative will:
• promote the economic prosperity of the countries along the Belt and
Road, as well as regional economic cooperation;
• strengthen exchanges and mutual learning between different
civilisations; and
• promote world peace and development.
What is of great significance is that the Belt and Road Initiative is a
systematic project, which will be jointly built through consultation with partners to
meet the interests of all, and effort should be made to integrate the
development strategies of the countries along the Belt and Road with this much
needed contribution to infrastructure development, improved
connectivity and further cooperation between countries. This must also reflect the
people-to-people, cultural and spiritual dimensions of the initiative.
Beyond the hosting of the conference, the Belt a