Abstract
This chapter contributes to the ongoing debate on China’s investments in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on the continent of Africa by examining the potential economic benefits and challenges of the BRI in the development of railway projects with an emphasis on Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). Other issues deliberated in this chapter include the emergence of a debt burden in the continent of Africa and how Africa and China would engage in the future to bolster Africa–China relations in BRI projects, especially transport infrastructure. With specific reference to the SGR in Nigeria, this article relies on secondary data from accessible published literature on railway transport infrastructure in Africa. This chapter’s results reveal that (i) the Chinese-built SGR will bring about the socioeconomic development of Nigeria, (ii) from the levy levied on containerized conveyance, the SGR will contribute revenue to the Nigerian government, and (iii) through better rail connectivity, the SGR will help bolster trade and regional integration. The author recommends that to make BRI projects more transparent, it is necessary not only to have more stakeholder involvement in these projects but also to review the funding mechanism to make borrowing more affordable.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
Deloitte (2018).
- 4.
Xiang (2019).
- 5.
Valare and van Putten (2015).
- 6.
Xuewu et al. (2022).
- 7.
Taylor (1998).
- 8.
“Closing the Infrastructure Gap Vital for Africa’s Transformation”, Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), African Development Bank (AfDB) (2010).
- 9.
Foster et al. (2009).
- 10.
- 11.
Deloitte (2018).
- 12.
Ehizuelen (2020).
- 13.
China’s Aid to Africa: Monster or Messiah (2018).
- 14.
Jobs for Youth in Africa: Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa (2018).
- 15.
Chen (2018).
- 16.
Chukwurah et al. (2022).
- 17.
Ochei and Mamudu (2020).
- 18.
Chidi (2022).
- 19.
Chen (2018).
- 20.
- 21.
Adewale et al. (2020).
- 22.
Irandu and Owilla (2020).
- 23.
Ehizuelen (2020).
- 24.
Ibid.
- 25.
Köll (2019).
- 26.
NIGERIA: New Lagos-Ibadan Railway Opens to Freight, Offering Improved Cargo Flows (2021).
- 27.
Ibid.
- 28.
Raji (2020).
- 29.
Nigeria rail transport generates N1.1 billion in three months (2021).
- 30.
Ibid.
- 31.
Monthly revenue from Abuja-Kaduna train service drops from N500 million to 1 million (2023).
- 32.
Despite Insecurity, High Expectations on Road, Rail Sectors in 2023 (2023).
- 33.
- 34.
Jobs for Youth in Africa: Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa (2018).
- 35.
Beegle and Christiaensen (2019).
- 36.
Dollar (2016).
- 37.
Chen (2018).
- 38.
Over 20,000 Nigerians employed for Lagos-Ibadan Rail project-Amaechi (2023).
- 39.
Klaver and Trebilcock (2011).
- 40.
Adisu and Sharkey (2010).
- 41.
Abuja-Kaduna train: Weighing the cost of insecurity (2022).
- 42.
Wissenbach and Wang (2017).
- 43.
The Second Data Collection Survey on Mass Rapid Transit in the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2014).
- 44.
Tovar (2019).
- 45.
Ibid.
- 46.
Chen (2018).
- 47.
Irandu (2018).
- 48.
- 49.
- 50.
The Chinese-African relationship is important to both sides but also unbalanced (2020).
- 51.
Full Text: China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals (2021).
- 52.
Amusan (2022).
- 53.
- 54.
Deloitte (2018).
- 55.
OBOR Trouble: IMF Chief Christine Lagarde Sends This Big Warning to China Over BRI (2018).
- 56.
Hurley et al. (2018).
- 57.
African Economic Outlook 2018 (2018).
- 58.
World Economic Outlook, April 2019 Growth Slowdown, Precarious Recovery (2019).
- 59.
Wang (2016).
- 60.
Xuewu et al. (2022).
- 61.
- 62.
Ubi (2019).
- 63.
Brautigam (2019).
- 64.
EOM et al. (2018).
- 65.
Bluhm et al. (2018).
- 66.
Xuewu et al. (2022).
- 67.
Ibid.
- 68.
- 69.
Xiang (2019).
- 70.
Foster et al. (2009).
- 71.
Taylor (2011).
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Ehizuelen, M.M.O. (2024). China Came, China Built: The Economic Implications of SGR Development in Africa Within the Context of BRI. In: Peng, N., Cheng, M.Y. (eds) The Reality and Myth of BRI’s Debt Trap. Indo-Pacific Focus. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1056-0_12
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