Is this the end of the line for China’s big belt and road funding in Africa?
- Chinese lenders have supplied much of the financing for major infrastructure projects on the continent
- But a shift is happening as Beijing changes its position on lending, observers say
Four other North African countries – Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria – have signed belt and road memorandums of understanding but Morocco is the first to go that one step further to detail the projects it and China will deliver.
Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita said the initiative would “open up new prospects for trade and investment, and bring additional opportunities consistent with the kingdom’s New Development Model”.
But where once that agreement would have been a near-guarantee for funding, it will now not necessarily translate into greater amounts of Chinese financing, particularly for major infrastructure, observers say.
Morocco is among more than 50 African countries that have either signed belt and road implementation plans or MoUs with China, with newcomers last year including Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Sao Tome and Principe and the Central African Republic.