Follow CGSP on Social Media

Listen to the CGSP Podcast

G7’s Global Infrastructure Initiative Will Have to Contend With China’s Massive Lead in Africa

by Cliff Mboya
The new $129 million international terminal in Zanzibar that was built and financed by China. The project was supposed to take 18 months to complete but instead required nine years.

The recent announcement of an initiative to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has generated a lot of debate among scholars and policyholders trying to understand its feasibility, particularly in Africa. What is not in doubt is that the G7’s Build Back Better World (B3W) plan is up against a formidable rival with a substantial lead.

Veda Vaidyanathan, a visiting associate fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies in New Delhi, led a team of researchers to analyze five Chinese-built infrastructure projects in Kenya and Tanzania in the telecommunications, energy, and transportation sectors. 

Lead the Conversation on China

Subscribe Today to Get Full Access to The China-Global South Project

Check Out Everything You'll Get With Your Subscription

The China-Global South Daily Brief delivered to your inbox at 6AM Washington time

Full access to exclusive news and analysis from editors based in the Global South

Transcripts of CGSP’s twice-weekly podcasts

Students and teachers with a valid .edu email address are eligible for a 50% discount off monthly or yearly subscriptions. Email us to receive a discount code.

You Might Like

Scholar: G7’s B3W is Just a Bad Copy of China’s Belt and Road

It’s been a month since the G7 unveiled its new “Build Back Better World” (B3W) initiative that aims to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative by providing an alternative ...

How’s the Belt & Road Doing During the Pandemic? Well, the Answer Depends on Who You Ask

There are conflicting assessments of the health of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and how it’s fared during the past 7-8 months amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A new ...

The Blue Dot Network is Back!

China’s rivals in Japan, Australia, and the U.S. have been talking about building some kind of alternative Belt and Road Initiative to compete with Beijing in building infrastructure throughout the developing world. Although ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.