Development First! China’s Policy Transfer to Africa

Abstract

Abstract China has emerged as an important norm-shaper in Africa in recent years and can be credited with influencing various policy sectors across the whole continent. Despite the massive impact COVID-19 had on China’s presence in Africa and the palpable decrease in financial and technical cooperation in recent years, in the field of policy dissemination China has been and still is one of the most influential external actors on the continent. Numerous ideas and practices from China have found their way into African politics, and China has directly or indirectly (and intentionally or otherwise) affected how Africans see development and the shape and implementation of development practices. This article traces the rise of China as a norm-provider to African elites and compares the impact of two influential policy sets – the development-security nexus and the Belt and Road Initiative – on African policymaking. It analyzes why some policies and ideas travelling from China have reverberated with African leaders and have had a direct impact on the developmental agenda of several countries while other concepts did not take root on the continent.