New Trends of African Development Corridors Construction and New Direction for China-Africa Cooperation

Regional integration is the core strategy of Africa in pursuing self-strength through unity and seeking independent development， while building development corridors is an important strategic means for realizing the integration and development of Africa. Starting from the Maputo Corridor proposed by the Southern African Development Community in 1996， African countries have been committed to promoting regional integration and national development through spatial development and regional connectivity. The transition from version 1.0 of building infrastructure corridors to version 2.0 of building synergistic composite development corridors is the core feature of the current evolution of Africa’s development corridors. China， by building large-scale connectivity infrastructure and engaging in institutionalized cooperation with regional organizations such as the African Union （AU）， has played an active role in the construction of development corridors in the African region. Having said that， African development corridors are facing transformation and the major countries are increasing their input on the construction of the corridors. Under the new circumstances， how to further consolidate and enhance China-Africa cooperation in development corridors and regional integration has become an important topic for China-Africa cooperation.

New Trends of African Development Corridors Construction

African countries are active advocates of regional integration and development corridors. In 1996， the South African government promoted the Maputo Development Corridor project in light of the philosophy of building economic corridors， which was later accepted by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development （NEPAD） and widely promoted in Africa. In 2012， African leaders decided to implement the Plan for Infrastructure Development in Africa （PIDA） as a strategic framework for the continent’s infrastructure development until 2040. In recent years， with the changes in development needs of African countries and international development cooperation with Africa， the construction of African development corridors is showing new trends.

First， structural changes are taking place in the concept， objectives and construction methods of African development corridors. The concept of building African development corridors is shifting from relatively single and primary project construction to the construction of more complex and diversified economic and development corridors. The 51 cross-border projects developed under the first phase of AU PIDA Priority Action Plan focus primarily on regional infrastructure development. However， at the 2021 AU Summit， African leaders decided to adopt the Integrated Corridor Approach， known as Development Corridors 2.0， for the second phase of the PIDA Priority Action Plan. Unlike traditional infrastructure corridors， the Integrated Corridor Approach emphasizes cross-infrastructure， cross-regional and cross-sectoral coordinated development， and aims to achieve truly sustainable development through the building of “inclusive， sustainable and world-class infrastructure”， as set out in the AU’s Agenda 2063. The goal of building development corridors in Africa has shifted from improving infrastructure to building a pattern of inclusive， sustainable and composite development. African countries are no longer satisfied with solely developing infrastructure， but seek to maximize the value of inclusive infrastructure and fundamentally promote national development by building a diversified， three-dimensional and participatory development pattern. The construction of regional development corridors is more dependent on the participation of diversified international development partners， institutionalized coordination across different levels and sectors， public sector reform and private sector participation. Whereas infrastructure development in Africa has traditionally been largely monopolized by governments and the public sector， building development corridors means that governments must allow and encourage wider participation by the private sector， both domestic and overseas. As a result， the construction of development corridors in Africa is in fact driving the need for African countries to build a diversified and open network of international development partnerships as well as an inclusive and coordinated approach to national development. It is therefore difficult to adapt to the current realities of building development corridors in Africa by relying solely on the relationship with African governments and the public sector.

Second， the outcomes and impact of African development corridors are being continuously enhanced. The strategic concept of Africa’s development corridors runs through the AU Infrastructure Master Plan， PIDA， the NEPAD Africa Action Plan （NEPAD-AAP）， the AU’s Agenda 2063， as well as the regional infrastructure development master plans of the African Economic Community and African governments. It has been noted by some scholars that “African development corridors will be the dreamland of African modernization.” Over the past three decades， the construction of the African development corridors has borne fruit. According to the AU’s assessment， among the PIDA Phase I projects， 67 are operational， 65 are under construction， 26 are in the bidding stage， 15 have completed financing， and 23 are undergoing the process of creating commercial and technical architectures. Overall speaking， 73% of the projects have moved from conceptualization to making substantial progress. African development corridors are also a key focus of support for the African Development Bank， which， as of 2022， has provided $13.5 billion in financing support for 25 transport corridors， more than 18，000 kilometers of roads， 27 one-stop border crossings and 16 bridges.

Third， African development corridors are becoming an important fulcrum for levering the major countries’ relations with Africa. In recent years， the United States， Europe and Japan have increased their attention to and investment in African development corridors. Western powers like the United States and the EU are utilizing the Global Gateway， the Global Infrastructure Investment Partnership， the Global Energy Transformation Partnership， and the Mineral Security Partnership to push forward new strategies towards Africa. They focus on African development corridors， especially key corridors， to promote their cooperation with Africa. The EU proposed the Europe-Africa Global Gateway Investment Program at the 2022 EU-AU Summit， where the construction of strategic corridors was identified as one of the key directions of Europe-Africa cooperation， and 11 strategic corridors were initially agreed upon. The United States and the EU signed an MoU to jointly support the construction of the Lobito Corridor. The EU has made the EU-Namibia strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials value chains and renewable hydrogen a flagship project of the Global Gateway， while the United States is promoting the construction of the East Africa Corridor in Tanzania with key minerals as a focus. Japan launched the African Development Corridor Model after the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in 2013， followed by the 2.0 version of the Development Corridor Model， and put forward the concept of “Smart Corridor”. Behind the increased investment of Western countries in the African development corridors is the consideration of their own strategic interests， such as geopolitics， major country competition and supply chain security. They emphasize that their mode of cooperation is a “better choice” than that of other countries， and attach policy related conditions such as political and economic reforms to their cooperation， which in fact creates differences in the modes of international cooperation with Africa， thus affecting the coordination and cooperation of the international community in the construction of African development corridors.