"Infrastructure Diplomacy in Africa: The EU’s Global Gateway vs China’s Belt and Road Initiative" - by CWP alum Maria Adele Carrai
Since Xi Jinping announced his master plan of infrastructure connectivity in 2013 with the official launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, other countries have scrambled to develop their own vision of connectivity for the world and address the huge infrastructure deficit in the Global South. Seeing Africa as the new geopolitical arena of competition between great powers, the EU has recently announced the Global Gateway as a response to China’s increased presence in the continent. How do the visions of infrastructure connectivity of the EU, China, and Africa differ? What are their strength and weaknesses, and are there areas for possible collaboration and overlaps? Where might there be and should be a competition? How can African countries make the most of the line of credit toward them? Through an analysis of official documents, this chapter looks at the different visions of infrastructure connectivity of the EU and China, respectively, the Global Gateway and the Belt and Road Initiative. The chapter concludes with some policy recommendations for China, African countries, and the EU in areas of possible collaboration and alignment with African development goals.
Maria Adele Carrai is an Assistant Professor of Global China Studies at NYU Shanghai. Her research explores the history of international law in East Asia and investigates how China’s rise as a global power shapes norms and redefines the international distribution of power. She co-leads the Research Initiative 'Mapping Global China,' and is the author of Sovereignty in China. A Geneology of a Concept since 1840 (CUP 2019) and co-editor of The China Questions 2 - Critical Insights into US-China Relations (HUP 2022). Before joining NYU Shanghai, she was a recipient of a three-year Marie-Curie fellowship at KU Leuven. She was also a Fellow at the Italian Academy of Columbia University, Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program, Max Weber Program of the European University Institute of Florence, and New York University Law School.
Photo Credit: By European Commission - https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/news/global-gateway-eu300-billion-european-unions-strategy-boost-sustainable-links-around-world_en, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113080132
