Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had envisioned leaving office with vast amounts of shiny new Chinese-financed infrastructure built throughout the country. That’s not going to happen. China has lost its appetite for large-scale development projects in Nigeria leaving some $15 billion of rail and other initiatives unfunded.
But that doesn’t mean that Nigeria still isn’t very important to China’s broader Africa agenda. Chinese companies are attracted to the large consumer market, its political heft at the African Union, and the fact that Nigeria is home to some of the continent’s largest technology hubs.
This week, Efem Ubi from the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs joins Eric & Cobus from Lagos to discuss Nigeria’s complex relationship with China and where it stands today.
Show Notes:
- Bloomberg: China’s Pullback on Lending Stalls Dreams of Rebuilding Nigeria by William Clowes
- Pulse Nigeria: China denies facilitating Rotimi Amaechi’s presidential bid by Ima Elijah
- Punch: NASS seeks China’s assistance on railway security, others by Anozie Egole
About Efem Ubi:
Efem N. Ubi s an Associate Professor and the Acting Director of the Research and Studies Department at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA). He holds a BSc. in Political Science from the University of Calabar; MSc in International Relations and Strategic Studies (IRSS) from the University of Jos and Ph.D in Contemporary International Relations from the prestigious Jilin University, China. Dr Ubi was the former Head, the Division of International Economic Relations at the NIIA. He is also a Visiting Lecturer, Graduate School, Department of History and International Studies, Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State; a Visiting Scholar at the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, China; and also, a Reader (Adjunct) with the Department of History and International Relations, Elizade University, Ilare-Mokin, Ondo State. Furthermore, Dr. Ubi is a recipient of many awards, which include; the October 1st Award of China-Nigeria Friendship (2021), from The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Nigeria; the prestigious United States International Visitors Leadership Program (USIVLP) (2008); Appointed and Commissioned “Ambassador of Goodwill” by the Governor of the State of Arkansas, United State of America (2008); Recipient of 2015 Foreign Talent Introduction Program of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs, Zhejiang Province, China. Ubi’s research interests and focus spans, International Relations, International Economic Relations, China-Africa, African Political Economy, Development Studies, and Territorial and Boundary conflict/Management.
