Rep. Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using Africa to further its global ambitions. McCaul shared his statement during a Sept. 11 committee hearing.
"And the African continent is ground zero for the CCP with its manipulative Belt and Road Initiative [and] crippling debt trap diplomacy," said McCaul. "Keep in mind, many CCP-funded projects are dual-use and can be used by the CCP's military, including potential naval bases in strategic locations – such as their port in Djibouti."
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a "massive China-led infrastructure project that aims to stretch around the globe," launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping as a "vast collection of development and investment initiatives." Frequently nations will "take on large amounts of debt to fund infrastructure upgrades, [and the] BRI money is seen as a potential poisoned Chalice," which has resulted in criticism of the initiative.
According to VOA News, one notable example of China’s Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure project in Africa is the Kenya Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), which is financed by the Exim Bank of China. The railway would connect Nairobi to the city of Mombasa, and the cost of this large infrastructure project is $5 billion. The second phase, an extended railway into Uganda, was never completed due to difficulty by both countries to pay down BRI debts. There were also "corruption allegations," and controversy from environmental activists about how the route cuts through a wildlife park. Kenya is $8 billion in debt to China.
VOA News also reported another example of China’s BRI project in Africa: investment in mining in Botswana and other African countries. China invested $7.8 billion in mining in Africa. In 2023, there was a $1.9 billion deal by state-owned MMG to buy the Khoemacau mine in Botswana, which is one of the largest copper mines in the world. China has invested in cobalt and lithium mines multiple other African nations, including Zambia, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
According to the Wilson Center, many Western governments see the BRI as a "debt trap diplomacy," which is described as a "development finance scheme that aims to burden countries with unaffordable loans, and makes them vulnerable to Chinese coercion." The exact specifics of the BRI were "often shielded from public view through strict nondisclosure agreements." An Associated Press analysis of Chinese loans to Zambia found that "billions of dollars in financing of infrastructure projects were effective in accelerating economic growth but also ‘raised foreign interests so high that there was little left for the government, forcing it to cut spending on healthcare, social services, and subsidies to farmers…’"
McCaul is serving his 10th term representing Texas’ 10th Congressional District, according to his website. Before going into Congress, he served as Chief of Counter Terrorism and National Security in the U.S. Attorney’s office and led a joint Terrorism Task Force charged with "detecting, deterring, and preventing terrorist activity." He also served as Texas Deputy Attorney General and served as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section in Washington DC.