A few weeks ago, Stake experts looked into the benefits Chinese companies derive from infrastructure projects in Africa. Another side of the question is what other economic sectors benefit from Chinese investments.

Sierra Leone decided on 10 October 2018 to cancel a $328 million Mamamah Airport project on a loan from China, draw light on the concerns of over-indebtedness put forward by the new government of Freetown and shared by many actors, including international organizations. However, they remain relatively little taken into account on the African continent where many economic sectors continue to require serious investments to become viable.

The data collected and analyzed by Stake experts for the year 2016 (for lack of more recent complete sources) illustrate this issue. With more than $10 billion, the mining sector receives the biggest share of Chinese investments (in the form of loans). Transports and power come next, with $8 billion and $7 billion respectively. Moreover, it is interesting to note from the data, that the less directly productive sectors (such as health, education and the environment) have also been the subject of increasing funding (compared to 2015) from China.

The data was collected from various sources and analyzed by our team. Contact us to access it.