China and the West are now clearly locked in a competition to exercise influence in developing countries through the largesse of their purses. While Trump’s America was a 4-year reign of disengagements from the world through trade tariff wars with China and the EU in a bid to Make America Great Again, President Biden has adopted a policy of re-engagement of the United States in the world. At last year’s June 2021 G7 summit, he proudly launched what he called the Build Back Better World (B3W) with the goal of establishing “a values-driven, high-standard and transparent infrastructure partnership” to help finance projects in developing countries.

The European Union, often eager to be in step with US global trade and political policies last December launched a USD340 billion new Global Gateway initiative to compete with the BRI. At this year’s just ended G7 summit in Germany, both the US, EU and Britain have announced USD600 billion for global infrastructure projects in poor countries with the goal being to compete with China’s growing Belt and Road Initiative.

But what is the BRI that’s making it the strategic new focus of the West? It’s a Chinese multi-billion-dollar initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. Xi’s strategy to spread China’s rising influence and consolidation of its place as a superpower is being achieved by means of a network of land and sea routes (roads, rails and bridges) linking Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe. Official data show that China has, since 2000 and by 2020 invested USD140 billion in BRI projects including USD22.5 billion in 2020 alone.

The West is responding. A week ago, they created the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment which was unveiled with pomp and pageantry by President Joe Biden and G7 allies from Germany, Canada, Japan, Italy and the EU. Their aim is clear: to fill a huge gap left as communist China uses its economic clout to stretch diplomatic tentacles into the furthest reaches of the world.

Between this year and 2027, the West will together contribute USD600 billion “through grants, federal financing, and leveraging private sector investments,” according to the White House statement. This is sufficient to dwarf the total spend by China since 2000 which is estimated at USD140 billion. And the West have a clear idea how they will raise the cash. President Biden noted that the target was for the United States to bring USD200 billion to the table while the rest of the G7, another USD400 billion by 2027

The BRI and Western approaches to use trade and infrastructure to spread influence among poor countries will be markedly different too. Unlike China’s state-supported BRI initiative, the proposed G7 funding would largely depend on private companies who’re willing to commit to massive investments in poor countries.

Here’s the problem.

While China’s development agenda has been marked by consistent infrastructural projects, loans and grants, the West’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment is not guaranteed. The US is depending on willing private sector investors to take the risks themselves to participate in the new Global Gateway initiative to balance and even offset China’s growing international trade clout. But the US leader expressed optimism about their plan highlighting the geostrategic thinking behind it which he said would “deliver returns for everyone, including the American people and the people of all our nations.”

The West has a lot of catching up to do with the BRI. In Africa alone, from 2000 to 2020, China helped African countries build more than 13,000 kilometers of roads and railways and more than 80 large-scale power facilities. China also funded over 130 medical facilities, 45 sports venues and over 170 schools. They also built the African Union Conference Centre. And this month, China is handing over to the government of Zimbabwe a multi-million dollar new Zimbabwean parliament.

African governments tend to see China as a stable and reliable partner compared to the West who attaches destructive conditions to their finances. Many are gravitating into China’s orbit to fast track their development agenda especially infrastructure. And China is seemingly making dreams come true. A China-Africa official cooperation paper released last December said 45 per cent of RMB270 billion (around USD42 billion) of China’s foreign aid from 2013 to 2018 went to African countries in the form of grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans.

It is up to developing countries, particularly African countries, to make use of the competing bride prizes from their fundamentally dissimilar suitors to develop rapidly and increase their relevance or be torn asunder in the battle for supremacy on their lands.