The China Africa Research Initiative published in May 2021 a paper titled "International Development Lending and Global Value Chains in Africa" by Vito Amendolagine.
The paper explores the extent to which international development lending can support African countries in trading intermediate goods with foreign partners with the goal of further specializing in high value-added activities within cross-national production networks.
The author concludes it appears that Chinese lending increases the involvement of borrowing countries in the international trade of intermediate goods, while World Bank loans contribute to move African countries toward higher value added activities along international production chains.