CHINESE LOANS TO AFRICA IN THE AGE OF COMPETITION AND PROPAGANDA: CASE STUDIES FROM WEST AFRICA

Abstract

Following an untrodden path, China emerged as an economic behemoth on the global scene. Neither a traditional socialist nor a capitalist economy, its emergence and particularly the means it employs to secure its achievements have created palpable fears and tensions for Western capitalist societies. In 2013, China enunciated its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which committed China to greater economic partnerships with developing countries. This further exacerbated the discomfort of the United States and its Western allies, for whom China represents the worst iterations of the zero-sum game. China continues to burrow into Africa, and based on the BRI, it expanded its development lending to several African states between 2015 and 2022. China's loans to Africa have, in mainstream Western scholarship, been characterized as debt-trap diplomacy. Reality is socially constructed and thus, many scholars have adduced seemingly plausible evidence to buttress the contention that China is in Africa for economic exploitation. Somewhat swimming against this assumption, we produce evidence to challenge the contention that China’s intentions in Africa are based only on economic exploitation and self-interest. Using Chinese development lending as the dependent variable, we employ four independent variables across four West African countries. Our findings show that Chinese loans to West African countries are conditioned by many factors, among which are support for China’s foreign policy, the needs of the recipient state, and the interests of Chinese commercial banks and corporations, among others. We argue that China’s cancellation of huge debts owed by African states is a significant demonstration of China’s aims in Africa. Our position is that China is mostly interested in creating allies in Africa in preparation for the inevitable day of reckoning between it and the capitalist West.