Matt Ferchen
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China’s Ambitious New Silk Road Trade Route Takes Shape in Africa
Understanding China’s investment in Africa through One Belt, One Road requires a familiarity with the country’s broader foreign policy and trade agendas.
Source: China Africa Project
Four years after the establishment of China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, investment in infrastructure projects on the African continent are beginning to gather steam. Countries in East Africa, including Kenya, Djibouti, and Tanzania, have played host to the first of China’s projects under the broader OBOR investment plan. While the initiative has been viewed by many as a demonstration of President Xi Jinping’s increasingly assertive foreign policy, it is in fact part of China’s “peaceful development” foreign policy agenda.
Carnegie–Tsingua’s Matt Ferchen joins Eric Olander and Cobus van Staden to discuss the strides OBOR investment has made in Africa and the potential for projects on the horizon.
This podcast was originally broadcasted by the China-Africa Project.
About the Author
Former Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Ferchen specializes in China’s political-economic relations with emerging economies. At the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, he ran a program on China’s economic and political relations with the developing world, including Latin America.
- How China Is Reshaping International DevelopmentQ&A
- Why Unsustainable Chinese Infrastructure Deals Are a Two-Way StreetArticle
Matt Ferchen, Anarkalee Perera
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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