The long-term strategic trend of China investing in Africa, and in African infrastructural projects such as roads, would continue, but recipient countries of such investments had to be prepared to negotiate better terms for their countries’ benefit, Frontier Advisory CEO Dr Martyn Davies said on Wednesday.

Delegates at the Africa Roads conference had highlighted concerns that Chinese investments in African projects did not always benefit the construction industries in those countries, as Chinese contractors were hired to build the projects and imported all their skills from China.

Davies noted that it was up to the recipient countries to negotiate these matters.

Regional Trade Facilitation Programme project manager John Donovan agreed, saying that recipient countries had to ensure that subcontractors were hired to assist or partner with Chinese contractors on African projects.

World Bank senior transport specialist Tesfamichael Nahusenay shared the view that it was up to governments in Africa to set clear rules during the contractor procurement process.

He added that governments should not compromise on the quality of projects being funded or built by Chinese investors in Africa, while they also had to ensure that they built and developed their own local construction capacity simultaneously.

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