China's belt and road initiative and the making of a new world order

Between the 14th and 15th May, an important step was taken in establish­ing the framework for a more co-operative and inclusive in­ternational system which would include communities and other social categories, well beyond the traditional range of formal State actors.

In Beijing ,at China’s national convention Center, 29 heads of State and government, ministe­rial level delegations, scholars and leaders of global Think Tanks from more than 100 countries gathered for an international conference on the Belt and Road Forum organized to give global ownership to the Initiative, es­poused by Chinese leader, presi­dent Xi Jinping

Even though, President Xi Jin­ping has said that the Belt and Road Initiative, a new paradigm for international cooperation and development “is not to re­invent the wheel but rather aims to complement the development strategies of countries involved by leveraging their comparative strengths” the Initiative, currently enjoying global consensus as a new framework for international cooperation and development strategy, have all the hallmarks of the making of a new international order.

The Belt and Road strategy as a Chinese Initiative was origi­nally espoused as the “Silk Road Economic Belt”, during a lecture delivered at a University in Ka­zakhstan by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Later in an address to the Indonesian parliament, Presi­dent Xi outlined the “21st Cen­tury Maritime Silk Road”, both an overland and maritime routes to build global connectivity through the construction of infrastructure networks like railways, airways, ports, and harbors etc that would facilitate people to people con­tacts, deepen market integration and facilitate trade.

The “Silk Road” of the eco­nomic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime, was designed as a new international co-operation and development strategy in the spirit of its ancient predecessor, where for over 2000 years ago, ancient people trekked across the vast steppes and deserts, opened the transcontinental passage travers­ing Asia, Europe and Africa in what become known today as the Silk Road.

Further navigating rough seas, the people created sea routes link­ing the East with the West, which also became the contemporary Maritime Silk Road

For over thousands of years and miles, the Silk Road comes to embody a bright chapter of friendly engagement among na­tions and mutual sharing of civi­lization.

President Xi Jinping said that the ancient Silk routes embody the spirit of peace and coopera­tion, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual ben­efit.

Following in the spirit of the ancient Silk Road, the contem­porary Chinese Initiative of the Belt and Road strategy is aimed to give real substance to the con­temporary world trend of mul­tipolarism, economic globaliza­tion, cultural diversity and greater information technology applica­tions. According to the “Action Plan on the China-Proposed Belt and Road Initiative”, it, “aims to provide connectivity of Asia, Eu­ropean and African continents and their adjacent seas, estab­lish and strengthen partnerships among countries along the Belt and Road, set up all-dimensional, multi-tier and composite connec­tivity networks and realize diver­sified, independent, balanced and sustainable development in these countries”.

The connectivity projects of the Initiative would help align and co-ordinate the development strategies of the countries along the Belt and Road, tap market potentials in the regions, promote investment and consumption, create demands and job opportu­nities, enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and mu­tual learning among peoples. In reflecting the common ideals and pursuit of human societies, the Initiative is a positive endeavor to seek new models of international cooperation and global gover­nance and will inject new positive energy into world peace and de­velopment.

The core content of the Belt and Road strategy is to pro­mote international connectivity through elaborate framework of infrastructure constructions and this aligns with the existential challenge of infrastructure defi­cits in Nigeria and Africa. To le­verage the core content of the Belt and Road international coopera­tion and development strategy to the priority needs of Nigeria and Africa and fill the infrastructure gaps, would require an unusual statesmanship and deep policy insight, that transcends the am­biguities of traditional foreign policy. Already, the existing mechanism of China-Africa co-operation, the Forum on China –Africa cooperation (FOCAC) have proven a viable and reliable framework that have delivered major co-operation projects be­tween China and Africa. The Belt and Road international co-op­eration, under which the key is­sues of China-Africa cooperation through the existing mechanism of the FOCAC process is aligned can be deepened and elaborated

The Belt and Road strategy represent a fresh undertaking by the global South in partnership with the North industrialized and developed economies, to build an inclusive global economic and financial architecture, with a his­toric opportunity for Africa and her biggest and most influential nation, Nigeria to inscribe her foot print in the emerging new world order.

The last time, the global archi­tecture was re-made; in the im­mediate aftermath of World War II, the bulk of Africa was under the tutelage of European colonial­ism and could not participate as independent actors on the world stage. The shift in the balance of powers today is happening with­out the cataclysms of major war or conflict and is therefore, less discernable but the benefit of stra­tegic insight could offer a glimpse into it. The Belt and Road process is the most tangible and practi­cal expression of the shift, even though, it is at embryonic stage.

At the Beijing’s forum of the Belt and Road this month, major key countries, including those not on the original and ancient Silk Road took stand. The United States of America, which said she “recognized the importance of China-Proposed Belt and Road Initiative”, sent a delegation led by special assistant to President Trump, Mr. Matt Pottinger. The general secretary of Japan Liberal Democratic Party, Mr. Toshihiro led the Japanese delegation to the High Level dialogue of the Belt and Road Forum.

President Putin who led the Russian delegation said that the Belt and Road fit into “a role model for the global community of how we can work together, de­velop together based on equality and respect for national sover­eignty, and also based on interna­tional law and the UN principles”.

However, a profound and deep insight of the initiative was offered by the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Anthonio Gutteres who said among other things that “the Belt and Road Initiative has immense potential and can promote effective access to markets and new opportuni­ties” adding that it is crucial to stress the links between the ini­tiative and (the UN) sustainable development goals”. The Belt and Road Initiative, he further articu­lated “is rooted in a shared vision for global development, which is expected to generate fast invest­ment in infrastructure.”

Mrs. Christine Largarde of the International Monetary (IMF) and his counterpart from the world Bank, Dr. Yong Kim spoke in the same vein, in which the Belt and Road Initiative opens a new chapter in international co-operation and development.

As the only scholar from Sub-Saharan Africa attending the high level dialogue of global think-tanks, I mentioned that the core strategy of the Belt and Road process objectively aligns with the priority concerns of Africa to enhance infrastructure con­nectivity and boast industrial and production capacity, and that, the true global content of the Belt and Road will become strategically manifest, if it integrates Africa to its mainstream.

President xi Jinping who has earlier called the Belt and Road strategy, “project of the century”, outlined a provision of over 60 billion U.S dollars to fund proj­ects identified in the strategy. He noted the Asia Infrastructure and Investment Bank, (AIIB) and the BRIC New Development Bank are new financial instruments to lend heavy financial muscle to projects of the Belt and Road. The already Silk Road Fund estab­lished by China with initial capi­talization of 40 billion U.S dollars, got additional 10 billion U.S dol­lars to finance project along the Belt and Road strategy, which means that the critical bottleneck of infrastructure funding in Afri­ca will be overcome, if the region engages herself fully to the Belt and Road international mecha­nism for development.

For the avoidance of doubt, president Xi Jinping sounded loud and clear that the “Belt and Road Initiative is rooted in the ancient Silk Road. It focuses on the Asian, European and Afri­can continents but is also open to all other countries. All coun­tries from Asia, Europe, Africa or Americas can be international cooperation partners of the Belt and Road Initiative”, and noted that “the pursuit of this Initiative is based on extensive consultation and its benefits will be shared by us, all”.

Meanwhile, the Africa’s com­ponent at the initiative is up and running. The Mombasa port and Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway in Ke­nya to connect, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi is in progress while the nearly 10,000km, first Africa electric-railway connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti has been com­pleted and is now in use. These early Africa harvests of the Belt and Road strategy signals that Africa is in the prospects of new age revolution that promises the fulfillment of the region’s long desire for functional integration and unity, industrialization and job opportunities for her teem­ing populations, especially the youths.

Mr. Onunaiju is the director of the Centre for China Studies, (CCS) Utako, Abuja.