A team of African scholars has published a book titled “China, Building a Global Community With a Shared Future: A Deconstruction of Debt-Trap Diplomacy,” challenging the notion that China engages in debt-trap diplomacy.
The book was unveiled during a presentation at the University of Abuja’s Department of Political Science and International Relations on Thursday.
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In his remarks, Professor Sheriff Ghali Ibrahim, Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations dismissed the idea of Chinese debt-trap diplomacy as a misconception lacking evidence.
Ghali, who is also the Director of the Center for Contemporary China-Africa Research in Nigeria and the editor of the book, stated that, contrary to the erroneous claims by Indian scholar Brahma Chellaney that China is debt-trapping poor nations to extract economic, political, or strategic concessions, China is instead building a global community with a shared future by engaging in initiatives aimed at improving the world.
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He noted that since joining the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Nigeria has benefited significantly from China, particularly in infrastructure development, including rail and road construction, seaports, energy, agriculture, trade, commerce, technology transfer, and human capital development.
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“China is not engaged in debt-trap diplomacy but is boosting its own economy while promoting a harmonious international economic order that enhances trade, investment, and financial governance.
“Nigeria has significantly benefited from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We have seen countless projects such as the railways, airports, bridges, roads, and the educational system being expanded and supported. So the Belt and Road Initiative in Nigeria has come to stay and Nigeria is a great and major beneficiary of the Initiative,” Prof Ghali stated.
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The 450-page book, reviewed by Professor Saleh Dauda, is organized into 25 chapters. Chapters 1-6 address China’s contributions to global development and dismantle the debt-trap narrative. Chapters 7-14 focus on China’s investments in Nigerian infrastructure and its efforts to reduce global poverty. Chapters 15-21 explore the China-Nigeria strategic partnership, China’s role in African public infrastructure, and the dynamics of Nigeria-China relations in a multipolar world. The final chapters, 22-25, analyze Sino-Nigerian economic relations, the absence of debt traps in their trade dealings, anti-corruption measures, and a comparative analysis of Nigeria and China.
Prof. Saleh stressed the authors’ argument that China’s concessional loans to Africa do not exhibit debt-trap characteristics, in contrast to loans from international financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The presentation drew an audience of foreign policy experts, academic scholars, university lecturers, and students.
