The Digital Silk Road: Connecting Africa with New Norms of Digital Development
Ovigwe Eguegu
Abstract
The Digital Silk Road:Connecting Africa with New Norms of Digital Development Ovigwe Eguegu (bio) With socioeconomic development as the aim of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an expected effect is a boost in science and technology across the participating regions. Collectively, the countries participating in BRI are home to 65% of the world's population, and digital technology is playing an increasingly crucial role in diplomacy, trade, and geopolitics. BRI's infrastructure-building campaign includes digital development through the Digital Silk Road (DSR), which aims to support BRI's streamlining of trade and industrial overcapacity with greater digital integration.1 To date, 52 of 55 African Union members have signed a memorandum of understanding with China on BRI.2 Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has adopted the BRI and DSR as organizing concepts of its foreign policy. As such, the role of the internet and digital infrastructure must be critically examined, particularly with regard to China's foreign policy intentions toward Africa. In line with the rise of Chinese internet companies on the global stage, there has also been an increased foreign policy push to build an "information silk road," as China's policymakers articulated in 2015.3 The DSR aims to facilitate the integration of networked technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence further into BRI.4 Even though there is growing consensus on the importance of BRI, there has been little debate on the role of the internet in the progress and development of BRI, which in this context manifests as the DSR. [End Page 30] In reality, alongside massive infrastructure projects, digital information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure is being built in parallel with transport and energy-based projects. Fiber-optic cables, data centers, and transcontinental information networks, among other ICT, have been integrated into policy programs such as the 13th Five-Year Plan for National Informatization, which was published by China's State Council in 2016 and explicitly calls for the construction of an online Silk Road with participation from Chinese internet companies.5 Across Africa, the level of digital economic development is in part correlated to the level of industrialization, with infrastructure for ICT and the digital economy often concentrated in state capitals and major cities. Poor-quality submarine optical cable networks and limited broadband network coverage are key factors contributing to the low degree of digital economic development in Africa. While e-commerce platform use is ticking upward, especially in East Africa, research has shown that many countries do not have sufficiently developed digital infrastructure to efficiently engage China's DSR framework.6 This essay examines China-Africa cooperation on the DSR in Africa, focusing on the opportunities and engagements it has created as well as the challenges to implementing the DSR across the continent. It also analyzes implications for the United States and Western Europe, which have different norms for digital development, and emphasizes the importance of African agency in adopting digital infrastructure that best suits African countries' emerging needs. China-Africa DSR Cooperation The DSR's promotion of cyber sovereignty contrasts with the open, "democratic" internet standards of the West. This is important because too often analysts have not considered African agency in the development of the continent's digital economy. However, studies have shown that African leaders that may have financial difficulties with larger BRI projects (such as [End Page 31] transport and energy) generally consider digital projects more affordable, which ultimately influences their partnership preferences.7 Under the DSR, China has already entered cooperation and investment agreements with over twenty countries around the world. Global interest in the DSR has grown as countries in West Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia look for inexpensive, high-quality technology to expand ICT services.8 Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, for example, aims to become the next major tech hub in Africa, aligning well with Beijing's plan to promote the DSR. As Ethiopia sees a chance for increased connectivity and participation in the digital economy, China seeks to remove bottleneck issues that hinder development in BRI partner countries. Other governments in Africa have also initiated high-level technology projects with China under BRI. Companies such as Huawei and ZTE have...