China in Africa: An Examination of the Impact of China’s Loans on Growth in Selected African States

Courage Mlambo
Additional contact information
Courage Mlambo: Department of Public Administration and Economics, Mangosuthu University, Durban 4133, South Africa

Economies, 2022, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-27

Abstract: This study sought to test the impact of China’s infrastructure investment on economic growth in selected African states. Many comparative studies have shown the positive role that infrastructural loans plays in supporting economic growth. However, for Africa, the role of China’s infrastructure projects has mixed views with regards to its contribution to growth and development. A survey of the literature showed that the central question about Chinese infrastructural loans is whether the infrastructural projects are beneficial or detrimental to Africa. Currently, there is no settled opinion as to whether (or not) Africa is benefiting from the Chinese economic relations. This study was quantitative, and we used panel data to achieve our objectives. The study employed annual panel data for 15 African countries covering the period of 2000–2017. The Pooled Mean Group, Mean Group, Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares, and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares panel techniques were used for estimation purposes. The main conclusion from the quantitative analysis of China’s infrastructural loans in Africa is that China’s efforts in developing infrastructure are translating into economic growth. This study provides evidence that China’s engagement in Africa could be beneficial, given the positive relationship between loans and economic growth.

Keywords: China-Africa relations; infrastructure development; loans; debt; debt overhang; debt trap diplomacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E F I J O Q (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/10/7/154/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/10/7/154/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:10:y:2022:i:7:p:154-:d:848793

Access Statistics for this article

Economies is currently edited by Ms. Adore Zhou

More articles in Economies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().