Category: Academy

In this short piece, I will use statistical data extracted from the World Bank's online database. The figures I will use here are for Africa as a whole, i.e. sub-Saharan Africa (the one most often referred to when talking about "African" debt) and North Africa. Figures are for the ...

There was a time when Chinese lending to developing countries rivaled the World Bank. Those days are now long gone as Chinese overseas development lending has been on a steady downward trajectory.

Chinese lending to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is now at its lowest level in 15 years, according to new data published by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute. The findings may come as a surprise, given China's heightened diplomatic and security ...

Job creation is one of the most important issues in Africa-China relations. Two fascinating recent research articles give different takes on how engagement with China affects African development. The first focuses on the controversial issue of the importation of Chinese workers ...

The SSRC report is its first mapping of the Africa-China field since 2012 and shows the field’s rapid expansion. Ten years ago, it found three key subfields in Africa-China studies: trade and aid; the role of multilateral institutions, and migration. By ...

SSRC’s mapping of research on the relationship between China and Southeast, Central, South and Western Asia shows both how vast these fields are and how they differ significantly both in terms of research focus and method. More than in Africa and ...

At 12% of Africa’s total external debt, China didn’t cause the current wave of debt distress hitting the continent. But the crisis presents Beijing with a dilemma: should it strongarm these countries to get its money back or trade economic losses for diplomatic gains? ...

As former colonial powers like France and the United Kingdom lose their relevance in West Africa, the region is pivoting to China. This trend comes as China’s own confidence in West Africa is growing, despite relatively slow engagement compared to other parts of the ...

In the first of a three-webinar series, the Le Collectif pour le Renouveau Africain (CORA) brought together a group of leading African analysts and scholars to discuss local agency in Africa-China negotiations. The panelists and discussants analyzed the extent of agency exercised by local actors in Chinese-funded infrastructure ...

The Chinese-financed Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Kenya is one of the flagship projects of the Belt and Road Initiative. But the SGR like other Chinese-sponsored railway projects elsewhere in the Global South also serves as a prime example of the ...

By Kevin P. Gallagher China is being criticized for stepping up its policy to provide liquidity financing in the form of loans and currency swaps for countries in distress for the wrong reasons. Providing such liquidity shows that China is ...

By Oyintarelado Moses and Jyhjong Hwang On August 19, 2022, China announced it would waive 23 interest-free loans (IFLs) with maturity by the end of 2021 for 17 unspecified African countries worth an unspecified total amount. This announcement comes as ...