AFRICAN leaders descend on China’s capital this week, seeking funds for big-ticket infrastructure projects as they eye mounting great power competition over resources and influence on the continent.
China has expanded ties with African nations in the past decade, furnishing them with billions in loans that have helped build infrastructure but also sometimes stoked controversy by saddling countries with huge debts.
China has sent hundreds of thousands of workers to Africa to build its megaprojects, while tapping the continent’s vast natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.
Beijing has said this week’s China-Africa forum will be its largest diplomatic event since the Covid-19 pandemic, with leaders of South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and other nations confirmed to attend and dozens of delegations expected.
African countries were “looking to tap the opportunities in China for growth”, Ovigwe Eguegu, a policy analyst at consultancy Development Reimagined, told AFP.
