China's Belt and Road Initiative in Africa, Debt Risk and New Dependency: The Case of Ethiopia

Acknowledging a growing new concern about China across the Global North in general, and in the U.S. in particular, in the context of China--Africa relations, the article examines Ethiopia as a case study to understand the multi-faceted relationship. Based on field research in 2018-20, together with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAfrican studies quarterly Vol. 19; no. 3-4; pp. 8 - 28
Main Author Tarrosy, Istvan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Gainesville Center for African Studies 01.10.2020
African Studies Quarterly
Subjects
Case studies
Chinese foreign relations
Connectivity
Debt
Dependency
Economic aspects
Economic development
External debt
External debts
Fieldwork
Financial risk
Foreign policy
Geopolitics
Government finance
Infrastructure
Infrastructure (Economics)
International aspects
International cooperation
Light rail transportation
Loans
Local media
Modern society
Transportation construction
China
Ethiopia
Beijing China
United States > US
Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa
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Summary:Acknowledging a growing new concern about China across the Global North in general, and in the U.S. in particular, in the context of China--Africa relations, the article examines Ethiopia as a case study to understand the multi-faceted relationship. Based on field research in 2018-20, together with local media reports, it looks at some of the recent large-scale infrastructure projects in Ethiopia built by Chinese companies, in particular the Light Railway in Addis Ababa and the Ethiopia--Djibouti Railway. These will be analyzed in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China. Although the expansion of badly needed modern infrastructure, and thus enhanced connectivity, is welcomed by society at large, the following research questions are raised: (1) How difficult will the repayment of loans be for Ethiopia? (2) Is China offering a worse scenario than the Western practice? At the same time, what is the alternative to these Chinese loans for African governments at present? (3) What are the costs and benefits for both sides? In the process of measurable growing indebtedness--this time to China--the article will shed light on some new dependencies in the making.
ISSN:2152-2448
2152-2448