The International Monetary Fund published in February 2024 a working paper titled "Navigating the Evolving Landscape of China and Africa's Economic Engagements" by Wenjie Chen, Michele Fornino, and Henry Rawlings.
The paper examines the evolution of trade, loans, and investment since the early 2000s, and the subsequent shift in the relationship triggered by the commodity price collapse in 2015 and by the COVID-19 pandemic. The potential effects on the African continent of a further slowdown in Chinese growth are analyzed, highlighting the varying effects on different countries in Africa.
China-Africa trade continues to increase, although China's exports to Africa are growing much more rapidly than Africa's exports to China. Chinese loans to Africa were once highly important but have declined sharply since reaching a peak in 2016. China's foreign direct investment in Africa remains modest, reaching only about 4 percent of total investment stock on the continent.
