CHINA’S GROWING PRESENCE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA REGION SINCE 2000: AN INTEGRATING PARTNER?

Abstract

Several studies indicate that economic infrastructures play a great role in promoting regional integration. The increase in infrastructural investments demonstrates a certain convergence in advancing regional integration. To this end, this article intends to analyze whether or not China’s growing infrastructure investment since 2000 has been bringing about socio-political and economic integration in the Horn of Africa. Thus, the principal objective of this article is to critically examine the nature of Chinese infrastructure projects in the Horn of Africa from the perspective of regional integration. For the purpose of the present discussion a qualitative research approach was employed, and both primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed. Accordingly, the study proved that Chinese infrastructure projects haven’t played an integrative role in the Horn of Africa for different reasons: China’s little commitment to support regional peace and security initiatives; lack of a clear road map regarding the execution of various projects; lack of awareness concerning the role of RECs for integration; the existence of fragmented lending culture; uneven distribution of infrastructure projects between countries; and China’s greater obsession with national than regional matters are among them.

Keywords

• china
• horn of africa
• regionalization
• regional integration