This article challenges the widely-held view that the competition for markets
and influence between China and the West in sub-Saharan Africa is a zero-sum
game, with few incentives or opportunities to collaborate. The study examines
the history and operative framework of the China Development Bank (CDB)
and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and presents two case studies
– CDB’s loans to Huawei for telecommunications expansion in the region and
IFC’s Africa Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (AMSME) Program – that
exemplify each institution’s approach to sub-Saharan Africa’s development
challenges. These cases, the study finds, reveal a complementary, rather than
conflictive, dynamic between CDB and IFC’s interests and activities in the
context of the region’s infrastructure and private sector development. The paper
argues that these complementarities are too often overlooked, and highlights
the potential for further cooperation, proposing a mechanism through which
local governments, global financial institutions, and extra-regional players can
coordinate efforts to maximize the developmental impact of investment-led
projects.

References are not ready for this file yet, please refer to reference from the PDF file

Keywords

China-Africa relations, Development finance, China Development Bank, Huawei