-Progress in Development Studies
The sudden and conspicuous emergence
of Chinese-backed megaprojects throughout Africa has become a major talking
point in academic, media, and government circles. For some, projects like
Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), Ghana’s Bui Dam, and Angola’s Nova Cidade
de Kilamba epitomise new possibilities for growth and development.
For others, these projects are
emblematic of China’s growing geopolitical reach. The latter viewpoint has
gained popularity among certain commentators in the form of the ‘debt trap’
narrative, which claims that China is attempting to entrap countries with debt
in order to secure strategic assets.
Yet what is the reality? And how are
we to make sense of the diversity of Chinese-backed megaprojects that have
sprung up throughout the continent?
This research contributes to the
small, but growing, literature attempting to answer such questions by
constructing a framework that categorizes Sino-African megaprojects into 5
types (infrastructure, extractive, production, consumption, and ceremonial).
In essence, the paper contends that
although these projects are heterogenous in terms of framing, objectives, and
outcomes, certain threads (for instance similar drivers, imperatives, and
policy mechanisms) can be used to bind them together. The paper thus attempts
to move beyond common
generalizations and systematically examines what it is that connects China’s
African megaprojects, and more generally, what these connections can reveal
about broader processes including patterns of elite-led development and the
nature of China’s growing connections with the continent.
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