China 'buying out' Africa: Top 5 destinations of Chinese money

On a quest to secure raw materials and energy resources to support the exponential growth of its economy, China has become the fastest-growing investor in Africa. Here are the top five destinations of Chinese capital, in order of estimated Chinese investment.

2. Nigeria

Sino-Nigerian relations are traditionally friendly and go back to the 1970s when the West African country was an international pariah due to its successive military governments. But as China's economy and energy needs grow, so do Chinese investments in Nigeria. 

Nigeria holds the second largest oil reserves in Africa, accounting for over 90 percent of its exports. Even though China's imports from Nigeria are relatively small, compared with the US, in 2006 China and Nigeria signed a $4 billion agreement in oil and infrastructure projects, an agreement that includes four drilling licenses for China. Separately, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) purchased 45 percent of an oil exploration block off the coast of Nigeria for $2.3 billion in 2006.

In 2010, China and Nigeria signed a $23 billion agreement for China to build three oil refineries and a fuel complex, Voice of America reports. Aiming to cut down Nigeria’s dependence on imports – such as clothing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, beverages – the two countries are also constructing one of Africa’s largest free trade zones on the edge of the commercial capital Lagos. Known as the Lekki Free Trade Zone, the first phase of the vast joint venture will cost $5 billion, and will stretch over 16,000 hectares when complete.

2 of 5

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.