• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
Democracy
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Matt Ferchen"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie China"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "China and the Developing World",
    "China’s Foreign Relations"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie China",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Southern, Eastern, and Western Africa",
    "East Asia",
    "China"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economy"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media
Carnegie China

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.

Link Copied
By Matt Ferchen
Published on Jun 15, 2016

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

Matt Ferchen

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.

    Recent Work

  • Q&A
    How China Is Reshaping International Development

      Matt Ferchen

  • Article
    Why Unsustainable Chinese Infrastructure Deals Are a Two-Way Street

      Matt Ferchen, Anarkalee Perera

Matt Ferchen
Former Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Matt Ferchen
EconomySouthern, Eastern, and Western AfricaEast AsiaChina

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.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • A young man uses Kimi, an AI grand model of artificial intelligence launched by Moonshot AI, in Shanghai, China, March 22, 2024.
    Article
    China Is Worried About AI Companions. Here’s What It’s Doing About Them.

    A new draft regulation on “anthropomorphic AI” could impose significant new compliance burdens on the makers of AI companions and chatbots.

      Scott Singer, Matt Sheehan

  • Research
    Russia in Africa: Examining Moscow’s Influence and Its Limits

    As Moscow looks for opportunities to build inroads on the continent, governments in West and Southern Africa are identifying new ways to promote their goals—and facing new risks.

      • Nate Reynolds
      • +1

      Nate Reynolds, ed., Frances Z. Brown, ed., Frederic Wehrey, ed., …

  • IMF World Bank Annual Meetings
    Paper
    Getting Debt Sustainability Analysis Right: Eight Reforms for the Framework for Low-Income Countries

    The pace of change in the global economy suggests that the IMF and World Bank could be ambitious as they review their debt sustainability framework.

      C. Randall Henning

  • Trump raises hands behind a lectern
    Commentary
    Emissary
    How Middle Powers Are Responding to Trump’s Tariff Shifts

    Despite considerable challenges, the CPTPP countries and the EU recognize the need for collective action.

      • Barbara Weisel

      Barbara Weisel

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    How Europe Can Survive the AI Labor Transition

    Integrating AI into the workplace will increase job insecurity, fundamentally reshaping labor markets. To anticipate and manage this transition, the EU must build public trust, provide training infrastructures, and establish social protections.

      Amanda Coakley

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600Fax: 202 483 1840
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.