LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER: THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY IN AFRICA

Abstract

According to the Chinese government, the Belt and Road Initiative is oriented toward ‘‘policy coordination, connectivity of infrastructure, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and closer people-to-people ties’’. This global and multibillion initiative was launched in 2013, in a decade characterized by the renewal of the continental integration efforts in Africa trough ambitious continental trade and development policies. The drafting of the African Union Agenda 2063 and the linking of Agenda 2063 to the global Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the transformation of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) into an African Union Development Agency; and the signing of an African Continental Free Trade Agreement demonstrate this new trend in the continental integration policies. Interestingly, like the BRI, these policies aim at connecting African countries in terms of infrastructure, trade and people. This paper examines the congruence (and co-learning) between the BRI and Africa’s infrastructure policies by cross-tracing the ideational process in the two contexts before elaborating on some preliminary reflections on the BRI impacts in Africa.