Africa's richest person has thrown his weight behind Chinese infrastructure investment on the continent, challenging Western narratives about debt traps and neocolonialism as billions of dollars in projects reshape the region's economic landscape.
Aliko Dangote, the Nigerian industrialist whose cement and fertilizer empire spans the continent, told a business forum this week that Chinese investment through the Belt and Road Initiative has delivered tangible results where Western promises often fell short.
"We needed railways. We needed ports. We needed power plants," Dangote said. "China built them. The West talked about partnership for decades while our infrastructure crumbled."
The comments come as Chinese-funded projects continue to transform African economies. Nigeria's Lekki Deep Seaport, built with Chinese investment and completed in near-record time, now handles container traffic that once bypassed West African ports entirely. Chinese-built railways connect Ethiopia to Djibouti, Kenya to Uganda, and Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos to inland cities.
Dr. Obioma Nnaemeka, an economist at University of Lagos, says the infrastructure gap left by decades of underfunding created the opening for Chinese engagement. "Western development banks imposed conditions and moved slowly. China offered financing and execution. African governments made a rational choice."
Critics, particularly in Western capitals, have warned about debt sustainability and the terms of Chinese loans. But African economists increasingly push back on what they see as paternalistic framing that denies African agency.
"The debt-trap narrative assumes African finance ministers are children who can't read contracts," says Dr. Amina Hassan, a development economist at the .
