TITLE:
Impact of One Belt, One Road Initiatives on African Infrastructure Development
AUTHORS:
Helex Kayembe, Yunjian Lin, Lazarus Obed Livingstone Banda, Colleen Mbughi, George N. Chidimbah Munthali, Xuelian Wu, Jane Thokozani Banda
KEYWORDS:
Infrastructure Development, BRI/BREI, Silk and Road Initiative, African Development
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.8 No.1,
January
28,
2021
ABSTRACT:
Background: China is one of the developing countries that have witnessed tremendous growth in all sectors of development. One of the strategies that China is using is the reintroduction of the 21st Century Silk Road Economic Belt Development Initiative which moves across the world creating trade partners all around the world. Some of the African countries are among the beneficiaries in this initiative especially in terms of infrastructure development which is ranked behind as compared to other developments. Aim of the Study: This review was aimed at funding out the impacts of OBRI on infrastructure development in African countries. Methods: The data were retrieved from the databases of Scopus, Google Scholars, Web of science with papers that were written in English in the month of September to November 2020. Results: The results of the study indicated that OBRI has positively impacted many participating countries in Africa. However, it is also argued that many African countries over depend on the loans provided through this strategy which acts as a burden. Conclusion: This study recommends that African countries should be underrating clearly the terms of the agreements during the time of signing of the loan agreements by even assessing their capacity to pay back. Besides, African countries should civically educate people on the ownership of these projects for sustainability.