Will China unveil another massive financing package for Africa?

There is a certain rhythm to the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) conferences and summits that has emerged over the past 10+ years. Africans attend these meetings with the expectation that if they play nice with China, Beijing in turn will whip it out its massive check book to underwrite huge aid and development initiatives.

At the last FOCAC, the figure was $20 billion, now this year, the guessing game is underway. Will it be $30 billion, may be 40, maybe it'll go as high as $50 billion. One thing's for sure, there will be a big announcement because if China doesn't bring the cash, then that kind of undermines a lot of the motivation for a number of African states to remain engaged with Beijing. As they say in Hollywood: "no money, no funny."

While it is widely expected there will be another big financing package announced at FOCAC 6, it may not all be new money. So don't be fooled by the headline: "China gives XX billion to Africa" as that may be very misleading if Beijing recycles money that had already been committed.

Dr. Ross Anthony is the Interim Director at the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa where he is among Africa's leading Sinologists. Recently, Dr. Ross attended the Wits University China-Africa round table where he discussed his views on China's 'dollar diplomacy' at FOCAC.