Resource Curse and China's Infrastructure for Resources Model: Case Study of Angola

Abstract

Resource-rich Sub-Saharan countries have found themselves trapped in the so-called resource curse. The importance of the aforementioned countries both as sources of natural resources and as consumer markets has been recognized by major world powers. It is rational to assume that the world power that manages to assist Sub-Saharan countries in dealing with the aforementioned curse will be given a preferential treatment in their future economic interaction. Thus finding an instrument that can deal with the resource curse has become of large importance. One of the major powers that has been present in Africa for a long time is China; which has recognized this opportunity and thus enhanced its engagement in the Sub-Saharan region, primarily through the Infrastructure for Resources model. This model enables developing countries to expand their infrastructure by relying on their resource wealth. Thus, it partially subdues the resource curse, which is empirically verified though a case study on its implementation in Angola. It is important to note that there is no consensus among scholars regarding the nature of China's involvement in Africa. However, this research avoids ideological debates, and focuses solely on the efficiency of the model in dealing with the resource curse.