Author: Peter Bosshard.

China has become a primary financier of infrastructure projects in Africa. China Exim Bank, the country’s official export credit agency, has approved at least $6.5 billion in loans for Africa, most of which is for infrastructure investments. China Exim Bank loans are often part of larger cooperative arrangements between China and African countries, which may include trade deals, arms exports, student exchanges, and the presence of peace keepers. The rapid emergence of Chinese infrastructure financiers in Africa has raised a variety of concerns among international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations, and Western governments. This report examines and discusses the impacts that Chinese financiers – and particularly China Exim Bank – have regarding debt creation, good governance, and environmental protection. It measures China’s efforts not by Western standards, but by international standards which China has signed or helped to bring about. The report finds that the impacts of Chinese financiers on debt creation, good governance and environmental protection are generally more complex than presented in Western media. It finds that gaps indeed exist between China’s commitment to international standards regarding good governance and environmental protection and actual practice on Chinese projects. It also finds that China is currently undertaking efforts to close these gaps in important areas. The report argues that as a major investor, China now has a self-interest in Africa’s longer-term stability, prosperity and development, and that paying more attention to governance and environmental problems is in line with this self-interest. Other actors have a right to call for compliance with international standards in infrastructure projects, but will only be credible in doing so if they practice what they preach in their own activities.