Despite talk that the Chinese economy was in trouble and that China’s investment in Africa had subsided, investment by Chinese companies in Africa was, in fact, on the rise.
China had indeed seen its economy slow down from 9% growth to 6% or 7%, but it was “still robust by any account”, said Goldman Sachs International MD Olivier Frendo on Tuesday, speaking at the Africa Rail conference in Johannesburg.
He quoted 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 had 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 had grown 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 covered China’s global investment and construction activity.
Frendo said a similar trend was visible outside Africa, with a “massive pickup” in Chinese companies investing abroad.
“China is an important trade partner in Africa and will remain so in the foreseeable future.”