Despite talk that the Chinese economy is in trouble and that China’s investment in Africa has subsided, investment by Chinese companies in Africa is, in fact, on the rise.
China has indeed seen its economy slow down from 9% growth to 6% or 7%, but it is “still robust by any account”, says Goldman Sachs International MD Olivier Frendo.
He quotes data from the China Global Investment Tracker, published by the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, noting that Chinese investment in sub-Saharan Africa increased from around $10-billion a year from 2005 to 2010 to around $30-billion a year from 2011 to 2015.
Investment in the transport sector grew from $1.45-billion a year from 2005 to 2010 to $12.2-billion a year from 2011 to 2015.
The China Global Investment Tracker covers China’s global investment and construction activity.
Frendo says a similar trend is apparent outside Africa, with a “massive pick-up” in Chinese companies investing abroad.
“China is an important trade partner in Africa and will remain so in the foreseeable future.”