When finished, the new deep-sea port in the southern Cameroonian city of Kribi will likely become a major gateway for all of Central Africa. This will be Cameroon’s only deep-sea port that can accommodate the larger inter-continental trading ships. This might explain why officials have placed such a huge financial bet on the project. The wager is that the billion dollars of low-cost Chinese loans Cameroon is taking on will be offset by revenue generated from a surge in trade and economic activity. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, the Kribi port project is also potentially risky for China. Shannon Tiezzi, China Editor at The Diplomat, explains that Beijing is investing heavily in port projects around the world as part of its new Maritime Silk Road initiative. Tiezzi joins Eric and Cobus this week to discuss this new Silk Road and why Africa may emerge as a critical hub.
Recommendations
- “What’s It Like to Have China Build You a Port? Ask Cameroon,” Shannon Tiezzi, The Diplomat, February 27, 2015
- “China’s ‘Maritime Silk Road’: Don’t Forget Africa,” Shannon Tiezzi, The Diplomat, January 29, 2015