A new report from the China Belt and Road Initiative Investment revealed that China poured as much as $33.5 billion into Africa over the last six months. The report, conducted by the Asia Pacific Centre for Industry Transitions at The University of Queensland Business School in Brisbane, Australia, found that China is expanding its economic footprint.
According to the report, “56% of China’s energy engagement was green – a new record both in absolute and in relative terms.”
China invested in two primary regions: East Asia and Africa. “A reason for Africa’s continued strong engagement may be increasing impacts and risks of tariffs from both the US and the EU, where some parts of Africa enjoy lower tariffs due to EU or US investments in the region,” the report read.
The report also noted areas of trade volatility. “[R]isks emerge due to uncertainty of possible growing trade sanctions vis-à-vis China, including, possibly, from the European Union (EU), and a risk of secondary sanctions for trade with China should the US aim to pursue this,” it said. “Nevertheless, with strong momentum in emerging economies,” Chinese BRI engagement is expected “to continue on a strong growth trajectory in 2026.”
The BRI is described as China’s primary economic strategy and focuses on green energy, trade efforts, and financial integration, among other goals.
In 2020, the first Trump administration condemned the infrastructure effort, saying the BRI is a vessel through which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can expand its reach. “Although billed as ‘foreign aid,’ in fact these investments appear designed to serve the PRC’s strategic interests and domestic economic needs,” then-Attorney General Bill Barr said. “For example, the PRC has been criticized for loading poor countries up with debt, refusing to renegotiate terms, and then taking control of the infrastructure itself, as it did with the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota in 2017. This is little more than a form of modern-day colonialism.”
