Africa and China have been warming up to each other, thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative. Among the African nations, Bloomberg reports that Senegal has chosen to lead the way towards an economic alliance with China. It has become the first in the continent to sign up for the Belt and Road Initiative, a pathway of trade and economy moving through the continent to China and beyond.
The road is shown to extend from China to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and connects these regions to Asia. Chinese lending has spearheaded the way, making Africa about $12 billion richer and gives them more funding to use for projects. It has also grown from just $100 million in 2000. China is expected to lend more to the nation following the agreement.
More African nations are expected to follow the example of Senegal. Per SCMP, Rwanda is eyeing to become the second African nation to sign an agreement with China during Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to the African country, thereby extending Beijing's economic reach to Africa and the Middle East as well.
During the Chinese leader's state visit, about 15 deals were expected to be signed. These are aside from ironclad pacts ranging from defense to industry; the deals were to be made under the guidance of China's "Belt and Road Initiative."
These agreements specifically include a few agreements on visa exemptions for people working as diplomats or those involved in foreign service. It also includes a joint geological survey deal as well as a few loans intended to fund Rwanda's infrastructure development.
The extent of the deals, however, did not include a key project intended to extend Rwanda's railway connection all the way to the Indian Ocean. State Minister of Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe confirmed this, even as Rwandan President Paul Kagame and President Xi Jinping met with each other.
With the changing face of the global economy, China is expected to urge more nations to join its Belt and Road Initiative. Its African plans, Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun said in a statement, are meant to bolster 'multilateralism' and is in no way going to bend to nations looking to be unilateral and are not adaptive with protectionist policies.
