ExclusiveChina-led bank spreads its wings to Africa, South America to bankroll infrastructure projects
The bank has contracted 24 projects worth about US$4 billion – ranging from power plants to rail and port facilities – in its two years of operation
“We have quite a number of South American countries joining, and I think it will be very good for us to finance some middle-income projects in South America, bringing South America and Asia together, cutting the transaction and shipping costs between Asia and South America,” said the bank’s president, Jin Liqun, in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post.
“I would also pay attention to supporting African member countries. Asia is developing quickly, but it cannot sustain itself well without collaborating closely with African countries.”
Asia is developing quickly, but it cannot sustain itself well without collaborating closely with African countries
Tuesday will mark the second anniversary of the AIIB since it opened for business in January 2016, and it has so far invested in 24 financing projects worth around US$4 billion. Its portfolio ranges from power plants to rail and port facilities in developing countries, mostly in Asia, with the exception of investments in Egypt and Oman.
The AIIB’s geographical expansion underscores what Jin described as the bank’s role in pushing “broader based social and economic development in the member countries in which we invest”. The South America and African regions have their own regional multilateral development banks, the Development Bank of Latin America and the African Development Bank, respectively.
China has been forging closer ties with emerging economies in Africa and South America in recent years, resulting in a number of these nations breaking off ties with Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing but which still retains a few diplomatic allies.
