ABSTRACT
This chapter considers what impact China's engagement in Africa is having on the development of the continent. For China, its involvement in Africa's construction and infrastructure sectors has proved most effective in building relations with African governments, increasing influence and expanding or facilitating transportation access within and between African economies. From the other perspective, for China to continue to achieve high rates of GDP growth in the future, its manufacturing economy requires key commodities and energy imports. Considering China's growing investment presence and influence on the continent, Africa will increasingly be the supplier of these resources. The Chinese roll-out of infrastructure in Africa is partly designed to facilitate this process - to alleviate the supply side transportation constraints. In most cases, Africa has welcomed Chinese investment, especially with regard to Chinese investment in its 'strategic assets' and there has been little apparent political resistance shown on the continent towards China's economic interest.
