Does chinese aid to Africa adhere to an unconditional framework? Evidence of underlying forms of conditionality

Details

Supervisors

Panin, Amma

Faculty

Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences économiques, orientation générale, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

The present thesis seeks to examine whether the manner in which China provides development assistance to the African continent is in line with an unconditional framework, or whether the allocation of such assistance is subject to the influence of political and geo economic conditions. The findings reported indicate limited evidence to support the argument that Chinese aid is mainly allocated based on development need. The quantitative analysis shows that Chinese aid is not directed towards poorer African countries or those with greater infrastructure deficits. Instead, it appears that the allocation of aid is strongly associated with strategic considerations. While voting alignment with China in the United Nations General Assembly does not produce statistically significant results, formal diplomatic recognition of the People’s Republic of China instead of Taiwan is strongly associated with higher levels of Chinese development assistance. Furthermore, countries with stronger trade relationships with China are shown to receive significantly more aid, thereby supporting the argument that geo economic interests do influence the allocation of aid. The qualitative case studies of Senegal and Chad provide further evidence to support these findings. In both cases, there was a temporal correlation between Chinese aid commitments and diplomatic recognition shifts, with the latter moving away from Taiwan and towards China. In the case of Chad, the aid project was followed by a substantial expansion in bilateral trade.