Water, road and rail: connecting Afro-Eurasia

As the world focuses on “building forward” with a view to recovering from the pandemic and the economic crisis, speakers at the latest Europe-China Dialogue debate entitled “Water, road and rail: connecting Afro-Eurasia” discussed how to bring Europe, Asia and Africa closer in terms of connectivity and increase collaboration between the three continents.

Zhang Xiaotong, Professor at Fudan University, underlined the need to dispense with the “power-oriented element” (00:07:38) and embrace collaborative connectivity between the regions, explaining how this can ultimately lead to what he termed “maximal connectivity”.

“Only by doing that can we have more success stories,” (00:08:35) he said. “Maximal connectivity would be very inclusive, collaborative, market-based and sustainable, and there’s a lot of room for collaboration between the US, China, the EU, India, Russia and other stakeholders when it comes to connectivity.” (00:08:56)

“Ultimately these multilateral efforts can lead to a multilateral connectivity agreement (00:09:18) … China welcomes all connectivity efforts and wants to be a part of it.” (00:11:46)

Astrid Skala-Kuhmann, Senior Advisor China and Co-Dean of the Sino German Young Professional Campus, expressed her disappointment with how the EU and its member states had responded to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) so far.

“Unfortunately, the approach and response of the EU and [member states] since 2013 have not been collaborative, but rather characterised by a combination of confusion, criticism and concern,” (00:14:05) she said. “This goes hand in hand with a more critical EU approach to China in general. The BRI is often viewed as a geopolitical strategy by China, aimed at achieving global dominance.” (00:15:38)

There is however room for optimism. “I see collaboration, fortunately, particularly in the finance and business sectors (00:16:02) … Of the 57 founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, 13 are from the EU. The initiative to green the BRI also immediately opened up opportunities for industry, business and the EU.” (00:17:09)

“If we need to build forward better, we need to harmonise standards and ‘mulitlateralise’ the BRI,” (00:20:49) she concluded.

Hany Nabil Mostafa, Principal Banker of the Infrastructure Turkey, Middle East and Africa department at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), explained how the role of the EBRD, of which China is now an active member, is to ensure a project is “sound from a banking perspective and delivers transition impact, and that this impact contributes to the SDGs such as inclusion, the green economy, competition and improved governance.” (00:35:07)

He gave the example of how the EBRD is helping to modernise the Egyptian national railways by making them greener and more attractive to investment and consumers. He also mentioned how there is a US$2tn financial gap between what the UN believes is needed for investment in infrastructure and how much is actually invested.

“This money needs to come from the private sector,” he said. “It drives creativity, is dynamic, brings new ideas, and goes to areas where government or the public sector cannot venture. It can bridge gaps between countries irrespective of political challenges.” (00:37:45)

Andre Didace Ciseau, Secretary-General for the Port Management Association of Eastern & Southern Africa (PMAESA), argued the need for more investment, given the fact that urban concentration trends will require the construction of another 130 new cities with populations of 3mn (00:58:09).

“We know that the Chinese are investing a lot in our jurisdiction, and we appreciate this,” (00:57:28) he said, adding that Europe needs to become an “attractive and competitive partner and financier”, particularly when it comes to transport and water. (01:02:01)

“Ending poverty must go hand in hand with strategies that encourage economic growth, address social needs and tackle issues related to the climate crisis and environmental protection,” (01:03:00) he concluded.

Additional contributors from the audience highlighted the need to prevent the marginalisation of some countries within the BRI and properly transfer skills to the beneficiary country, as well as the differences in how Chinese and EU companies tend to measure return on investment.