Chinese engagement in Africa through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Abstract

This paper makes a critical examination of the policy directions of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and its current interests on the African continent. Although it is a regionally-based development bank, the AIIB has today positioned itself as a visible actor in global governance, and has become one of the largest global inter-governmental organisations through its various partnerships and agreements outside Asia. Recent developments show in several ways that China’s interest in the African continent is here to stay, and that the AIIB is an important instrument that China is using to increase its influence in Africa. The AIIB has 18 approved members on the African continent, and has started to co-finance projects in Africa with the World Bank Group. This paper assesses the members of the AIIB on the African continent, and investigates why China has turned its attention to investments in Africa through the AIIB. The study looks at three particular AIIB projects in Africa, being a solar energy plant project, a rural sanitation system project and an international finance project, and opens a discussion of their effects.