With China on the Sidelines, What’s Next for African Infrastructure Financing?

For much of the past two decades, China was among the largest sources of African infrastructure financing. But that is no longer the case. In his recent keynote address at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation conference in Senegal, Chinese President Xi Jinping never mentioned the world infrastructure and the topic was largely absent from the final declaration.

The timing of China’s withdrawal from the space couldn’t be worse as the demand for new roads, power, and railways across the continent steadily rise. But Johnson Kilangi, founder and CEO of the infrastructure consultancy Lean Africa Consultants Limited, is nonetheless optimistic that new financing models will help to fill the gap. Johnson joins Eric & Cobus from Nairobi to discuss why he thinks more private sector participation is going to make the difference.