Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/chinas-xi-pledges-10-bln-credit-line-african-financial-institutions-2021-11-29/
On Monday, November 28, China’s President Xi Jinping pledged to deliver 1 billion doses of the COVID vaccine to Africa. This is in addition to the near 200 million doses China has given to the continent. Xi said China would also be providing health care infrastructure in the area, as well as 10 billion dollars in credit to help support the construction of trade between Africa and China. There are concerns that this deal could be similar to deals China has done as a part of its Belt and Road Initiative, such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where China promises the construction of infrastructure, but demands large amounts of resources, putting developing African countries in unsustainable debt.
From my perspective, this is to be expected from what we have seen out of China in recent years. China’s Belt and Road Initiative has seen it stretching out into Central Asia and Africa, and with this the Chinese government has been creating deals with developing countries that favor them over their partners. Africa has numerous resources such as oil inside of it, and China is racing to be the first power to claim those materials.
This connects to International Relations through Realist Theory. While China is not using military power to force what they want to happen, they are using other forms of power, such as economic and rational persuasion, in order to achieve dominance in the area. Following Realist Theory would also suggest that China is doing this deal only out of National Interest, and not for other reasons such as reciprocity.