China's Role in African Integration

Abstract

China has surpassed the United States to become the largest source of development finance in Africa. China boasts a policy of non-interference in the national affairs of foreign countries, but their investment in African development requires stable political institutions to succeed. To overcome this conundrum, China is devoting significant resources to the growth of the African Union as this source of stability. I argue that China has become the primary driving force behind African integration through a strategy of top-down capacity-building and bottom-up economic integration. There is a clear gap between the ideals of South-South cooperation and the actual implementation of China’s foreign direct investment; with China often failing to meet the standards they impose on themselves. However, these initiatives from China represent a major shift in development financing and the growth trajectory of Africa. China is slowly guiding the governance norms in Africa by operating on this supranational level.