Energy Infrastructure and Debt: A Comparative Approach to Sino-African Financial Relations in Angola and Ethiopia

una aproximación comparada a las relaciones financieras sino-africanas en Angola y Etiopía

Abstract

This article analyzes the implications of Chinese bilateral development finance formalized in energy infrastructures in Ethiopia and Angola. The objective is to evaluate how this model, embedded in the dispute for the hegemony of International Financial Architecture, impacts the development conditions of these countries. The hypothesis argues that the Sino-African link combines cooperation and dependency; by covering fiscal gaps without altering their subordinate role, hierarchies of domination are reproduced. The theoretical framework is based on Dependency Theory, utilizing a comparative case study methodology supported by descriptive statistics and historical review. The background reveals a growing financial exposure of Sub-Saharan Africa to Chinese state capital. It is concluded that this financing, by favoring Chinese capital and technology over the creation of local capabilities, reproduces the logic of dependency, impacting the countries' fiscal capacities within a context of neoliberal crisis.