China-Africa Economic Ties: Where Agenda 2063 and Belt and Road Initiative Converged and Diverged?

Abstract

I n recent years, China-Africa economic cooperation uncovered diverse eco nomic potentials in many African countries. As part of its consolidation plans, the African Union in 2013 unveiled “Agenda 2063: The Africa we want”. The same year, China lunched its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to promote “Community of Common Destiny for Mankind”. In this paper, we identify and highlight some points of convergence and divergence between the two initiatives building upon information from official documents issued by governments and the perception of experts both in the private and public sectors of China and Africa. We argue that countries’ diversity, projects’ life span, institutional and governance inefficiencies and minimal role of African countries in the BRI are some of the key challenges. However, based on the logical appraisal of the plans and their priorities, we argued that China-Africa economic ties promote mutual benefits in the areas of Industrialization, infrastructure and financial integration. Impliedly, we suggest raising the status of Africa and its role in the BRI towards inclusive and sustainable development of both parties.