Ebook: Building Bridges: China's Growing Role As Infrastructure Financier for Africa (Trends and Policy Options)

In recent years, a number of emerging economies have begun to play a growing role in the finance of infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa. Their combined resource flows are now comparable in scale to traditional Official Development Assistance (ODA) from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries or to capital from private investors. These emerging financiers include China, India, and the Gulf States, with China being by far the largest player. Despite its importance, relatively little is known about the value of Chinese finance. 'Building Bridges' quantifies the magnitude of financial flows from China by collating public information from a wide range of Chinese language sources. On this basis, it becomes possible to document the geographic distribution of resources, the types of infrastructures involved, the size and financing terms of the projects, and the modalities through which finance is being provided.