E-concession strategies for luxury brands are increasingly vital, especially as China remains a major player in the global luxury market with consumers accounting for 33% of the global luxury goods spending in 2018 with predictions to reach 46% by 2025 (more than Americans, Europeans, SE Asians and the Japanese combined). Additionally, experts estimate that half of the purchases will be made domestically, driven by a series of moves introduced by the Chinese government including lowering import duties and taxes on luxury goods. Despite the domination of the store-based retail channel in the luxury goods market in China, e-commerce is continuing to disrupt the luxury retail sector through digital platforms, integral mobile apps (Wechat), facial recognition and AI. The penetration rate of e-commerce for luxury products is growing at a fast pace and estimated to reach 13% by 2021 from 5% in 2016. Considering this, luxury players have been questioning on what is the best channel to invest in: Brick & Mortar stores? e-commerce? or perhaps investing in both for a perfect omnichannel customer journey. In the online retail context, Fashion luxury brands have been trying different operating models: brand owned channels, Mainstream B2C channels and Luxury verticals. The chart below² shows how major luxury players are active in brand owned channels, while the participation in marketplaces and e-commerce websites remains low in China: In adopting e-concession strategies, luxury brands globally, and particularly in China, have shifted from a wholesale model to an e-concession model to increase the online penetration. In this model, brands control pricing, assortment and the supply chain whereas marketplaces offer platform infrastructure, tools (product management, secure payment system, etc.) and the customer database. In addition, this model allows a better strategy integration rather than making brands inventory available via the site. In China, major luxury brands partnered with the biggest e-tailers and e-marketplaces (JD.com and T-Mall) on online flagship stores and mobile apps to expand their online footprint: - The Italian fashion house Prada Group has formed a partnership with JD.com, This deal, set in June 2019. Included in this partnership. featuring Prada’s fall/winter collection. - Back in 2015, Tag Heuer, a Swiss Luxury watch brand has also announced an exclusive e-commerce partnership to include the establishment of TAG Heuer's first China online flagship store on JD.com's marketplace platform. - Tapestry, the house of modern luxury accessories and lifestyle brands: Coach New York, Kate Spade New York and Stuart Weitzman announced a strategic partnership with T-mall (Alibaba Group) in adopting the Flagship Store 2.0 which provides the brands with powerful tools to feature customized content, and offer a rich shopping experiences for customers. - Aside from Tapestry, more than 150 brands with products ranging from apparel and beauty items to watches and luxury cars (Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Cartier, Burberry, etc.) are listed in the T-mall Luxury pavilion that was launched in 2017. - Not only brands, but European Luxury e-tailers such as Net A Porter are also capturing the rising wave of the flagship store integration by Chinese marketplaces: Yoox Net-A-Porter signed with Alibaba a joint venture (JV) deal in 2018 to bring its platform to Chinese consumers. Under the deal, Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter launched mobile apps, as well as flagship stores on Tmall Luxury Pavilion. In Europe, Burberry and Gucci approached luxury retailers Farfetch and MatchesFashion for unique e-commerce collaborations: - British luxury label Burberry was the first brand Farfetch partnered with on this basis: For the first time, technology developed by Burberry has been integrated to the Farfetch API – the platform’s operating system - allowing the brand’s entire global inventory to be available through an ecommerce platform. Burberry has since said it’s extremely happy with the results. - Gucci which seeks to boost sales and margins, is also looking to turn more of its collaborations with 3P and multi-brand retailers such as Matchesfashion.com into online concessions, where it controls everything from the product collection and selection to their presentation. Since Chinese consumers are eager for superior and premium experiences as well as innovative solutions, brands and retailers could think of personalized services that add a value to the e-shoppers experience such as Virtual try-on services, matching suggestions performed by AI, 24-hour white-glove dispatch, and distinctive shopping bags. Saad Ibenbrahim – Senior Associate at Infomineo Sources: The Future of Luxury: A Look into Tomorrow to Understand Today – Bain & Company – January 2019 China Luxury Report 2019 – Mckinsey & Company Vogue Business – November 2018 Fashion Network – April 2019 JD.com Blog – June 2019 This Is Money – June 2019 JD.com Press Release – September 2015 CPP Luxury – November 2019 Alizila – January 2020 The drum – October 2018 Farfetch Press release – February 2018 Businesswire – September 2019 China’s next retail disruption: End to end value chain digitization – PWC - 2018
Over the past two decades, the Chinese Modus Operandi has reshaped Africa's economic landscape, marking China as a pivotal economic partner through extensive trade, investments, financing, and bilateral cooperation. To have an idea of the scale of the Chinese wave, we can have a look at the most recent figures. In the list of main investors in Africa by FDI stock, China is placed only at the 4th position. However, the recent trend does not leave room to interpretation: while the top 3 countries investment remained pretty much unchanged in the period 2011-2016, China’s FDI assets in the continent grew at an impressive +150% rate. [caption id="attachment_4817" align="alignright" width="966"] Top 10 investor economies in Africa, by FDI stock (USD billion)[/caption] China is also the economy that by far announced the largest amount of greenfield projects in Africa in 2016, with over USD 36 billion, being only second to Italy last year. [caption id="attachment_4818" align="alignright" width="560"] Announced greenfield FDI projects (USD billion)[/caption] In addition, Afro-Chinese trade has been growing at ~20% per year, almost for the last two decades. Finally, it is important to note that these figures do not necessarily take into account the Chinese capital flowing through Hong Kong, where many Chinese giants have their holding company, through tax havens such as the Cayman Islands or the British Virgin Islands, or through other less transparent channels. The size and the pace of the phenomenon has provoked different reactions, ranging from an absolute consent for the pragmatism and, above all, the capital that was brought to Africa, to the fear for a quite fluid but rampant operation of neocolonialism. Chinese activities on the African continent are often perceived as a monolithic, state-coordinated investment whose reins are directly in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party – but this is only one side of the story. Reality shows that Chinese operations in Africa, whether public or private, are carried out according to a multitude of modus operandi. 1 - The Belt and Road Initiative Launched by the PRC Government in 2013, the BRI has recently been defined by the Chinese vice-minister for foreign affairs as an “effort to build a more fair and equitable international order and to reform the global economic governance structure”, and as a response to the trend of rising protectionism, unilateralism bullying and anti-globalization. In more practical terms, the BRI consists of a gigantic scheme to finance and build infrastructure, ventures and other business initiatives across ~20 are Africans countries, among the 87+ countries worldwide involved till today. The total estimated value of all the deals announced within this initiative since the launch is USD 1.12 trillion, of which a large proportion is earmarked for projects on the African continent, especially in areas such as: transportation, power & energy, but also in shipping, minerals & mining, manufacturing, petrochemical, real estate, telecommunications, and agriculture. South Africa and Ethiopia are among the countries that are most benefiting from BRI related investments. [caption id="attachment_4819" align="alignleft" width="866"] BRI countries and projects, as for official announcements(figures in USD billion)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4820" align="alignnone" width="689"] BRI countries and projects, as for official announcements(figures in USD billion)[/caption] Despite the fact that the boundaries of the BRI are quite fluid, several mega-projects are considered part of it, including the USD 3.5 billion International Free Trade Zone to be realized in Djibouti, the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway in Kenya, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway and the recently inaugurated cross-sea bridge in the Maputo bay, and many other much needed infrastructures. However, the BRI is no charity, nor is it a multilateral mechanism like the United Nation or the World Bank: each country deals individually with China, negotiating the financial schemes, establishing the project conditions and deciding how the infrastructure will be managed and by who. Projects are mostly carried by state-owned companies (State Grid Corporation, CNPC, Sinopec and CRCC are among the most the top 10, but the list also includes private giants such as Alibaba and Huawei) and financed by state-funded banks, such as the Exim Bank of China and the China Development Bank. Obviously, the BRI is not the only way in which the Chinese government is leading the interaction with the African continent. As of today, 53 African countries have established diplomatic and cooperation relationships with China and the African Union, also through the participation to the yearly Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Moreover, Chinese leaders personally visit African countries with a certain regularity, which is a form of diplomacy carrying not only a symbolic weight. For instance, the Chinese foreign minister makes an annual visit to the continent at the beginning of each year and over the last ten years government leadership made 79 visits to 43 different countries, with quite a preference for South Africa (7) and Tanzania (4). 2 - Private investments Chinese investment in Africa is more market-oriented than is commonly thought. [caption id="attachment_4821" align="alignright" width="300"] Chinese firms in Africa[/caption] Around 10,000 Chinese firms are currently estimated to operate in the African territory, 90% of which are privately owned and operating in several sectors of which they already handle relevant shares: · 12% of Africa industrial production · 50% of Africa internationally contracted infrastructure construction. In most cases, Chinese private operators prefer long-term investments rather than trading or contracting, and have their focus on serving African markets rather than exporting their products. This strategy led a third of them to reach profit margins higher than 20% and their consolidated revenues, that are currently estimated at USD 180 billion, are expected to range between 250 and 440 USD billion by 2025. An aggressive price strategy is often the key for success: in some cases, these firms lowered their prices for existing products and services by 40% and remained profitable through the introduction of an improved technology or by getting efficiencies of scale. Private investments from China into African markets come to seize business opportunities with a simple profit-oriented logic and can get so competitive that not even smugglers can make it against them. For instance, the Lee Group that produces, among other products, 1.2 million flip-flops per day, and sell them for around 1 USD a pair, keeping a ~100% market share across Nigeria and West Africa. 3 - Industrial Zones Halfway between public initiative and private investment there is the creation of industrial zones, often starting with the state leadership negotiating spaces, fiscal incentives and other conditions and getting local government authorization and support. A public company will then plan and develop the industrial zone, promoting the created opportunity among other Chinese private investors. To this extent, by the end of 2016 Chinese enterprises had built 56 economic and trade zones in more than 20 countries along the Belt and Road routes, with an accumulated investment of over USD 18.5 billion. China Merchants Group, a state-owned USD 90 billion industrial conglomerate, is believed to be the government tool to unlock foreign markets by exporting its model of industrial zone development. It is not surprising that the company's international trajectory is very evocative of the BRI itself. [caption id="attachment_4822" align="alignright" width="300"] CMG international operations[/caption] This model was the one applied for the Great Stone project, an industrial park designed to bring together some USD 30 billion of Chinese investments in Belarus. It is likely that CMG will apply the same model to the above-mentioned Free Trade Zone in Djibouti and the one linked to the Bagamoyo port in Tanzania, being this a strategy very much welcomed by local governments and labor markets. However, the State initiative is not the only driver that leads to the development of Chinese industrial zones. In Africa, besides the 7 industrial zone approved by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in Ethiopia, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Nigeria (2) and Zambia, private investors have established further zones in Botswana, Guinea, Nigeria again and South Africa, directly dealing with local governments since the year 2000. 4 - Foreign debt From 2000 to 2017 the Chinese Government, banks and contractors extended USD 143 billion worth of loans to African governments and state-owned enterprises. Whether or not these loans are value for money or just a flow of money from the Chinese government to Chinese companies via Africa remains a matter of debate. [caption id="attachment_4825" align="aligncenter" width="1007"] Chinese loans to African countries (2000-2017)[/caption] The nature of loans is much varied. Some of them qualify as official development aid, but others are export credits, suppliers’ credit, commercial loans, etc. These amounts are not current debt figures, since many countries have been paying back their debts promptly and substantially along the years. However, doubts are raised about the ability of many countries to sustain relatively large debts. This is the case of Kenya, whose bilateral debt is currently 72% owned by China, or Djibouti and Maldives, whose total debt is estimated to reach respectively around 90% and 65% of the country’s GDP, once the Belt & Road Initiative will be completed. 5 - Military presence At the time when the US and the European countries are adopting isolationist policies, Beijing is making power moves in Africa, projecting China as the leader of the developing world, in solidarity with developing nations through the fight against terrorism, piracy and natural disasters. Of course, the desire of safeguarding Chinese workers and Chinese-funded projects on the continent is likely playing a role in the government’s efforts as well. The military presence in Africa has been fortified in different ways. Primarily, by establishing its first overseas military base in Djibouti. Secondarily, by taking a more active role at the United Nations, becoming the major contributor of peacekeepers and one of the largest contributors of troops. Tertiarily, by providing logistical and defense support, technology, equipment, personnel, strategic advice and weapons, as announced at the first ever China-Africa Defense and Security Forum. 6 - Soft power Chinese initiatives to increase influence in the African continent include also some other forms of soft power that may or may not be part of a unique comprehensive strategy. Chinese Yuan as a reserve currency From one side, the government push to internationalize its currency is part of the strategy to promote trade and investments. From the other side, most African countries have loans or grants from China and for them it would make economic sense to repay in Chinese Yuan. For these reasons, African central bank leaders are currently discussing whether to hold the Yuan as part of their foreign reserves. This discussion is currently held by 14 nations in Eastern and Southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Diplomatic boost and tourism Africa is becoming more and more an appealing destination for Chinese tourists and especially countries such Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Namibia, Madagascar and Tanzania are increasingly attracting visitors from the PRC. This is also a result of some government-led initiatives, such as a diplomatic boost leading to relaxed visa rules for Chinese citizens (for example, with South Africa) or other initiatives like the “I Go Kenya – I Go China” program, creating incentives for travel, shopping and leisure to tourists visiting the two nations. Education and know-how transfer Education and the transfer of technological know-how are increasingly part of the country soft power efforts in the continent, with a growing offer of training contents targeting young Africans. As of 2018, there were more than 20 Chinese-run agricultural training centers and 48 Chinese language schools, the Confucius Institutes, across African countries. China is already the top destination for African students from English-speaking countries and, besides this, the government will offer +10,000 scholarships for Africans officials to study in China over the next 10 years. Training and knowledge transfer are usually a formal part of business initiatives as well. For instance, within the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway project, whose hard infrastructure was inaugurated earlier this year, the Chinese counterpart agreed to assist in the training and knowledge transfer throughout the whole period in which the management of the infrastructure itself will pass from the hands of Chinese companies to those of the local joint venture. What do Africans think about this? Many voices have been raised by the Western world, expressing more or less sincere concerns about the possibility of an ongoing neo-colonialism. However, based on the results of a 2014/5 survey among 54,000 citizens in 36 African countries, China’s growing presence in the continent wins largely positive consent. Almost two-thirds (63%) of Africans say that China’s influence is somewhat or very positive, and the most important factors contributing to a positive image of the country are its infrastructure development, its business investments and the cost of its products in the local market. Despite the fact that United States is still the most popular model for national development (cited by 30% of respondents), China stands at the 2nd place continent-wide (24%), and its popularity matches or even takes the lead in several countries such as Cameroon (48%), Sudan, Mozambique, Mali (36%), Tanzania (35%), and Zambia (32%), and Egypt (29%). [caption id="attachment_4826" align="aligncenter" width="983"] Perception about China’s economic and political influence and factors contributing to a positive image[/caption] Generally speaking, Africans recognize the importance of China’s economic activities in their homeland: across 35 countries, 69% of respondents say these activities have some or a lot of influence on the economy they live in. Finally, a McKinsey extensive field survey shows how this perception is shared by almost all senior business and government leaders interviewed, that acknowledge how the Africa-China opportunity is larger than those presented by any other foreign partner, including Brazil, the European Union, India, the UK and the United States. Antonio Pilogallo, Team Lead at Infomineo Sources: Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/e7e81928-7f57-11e8-bc55-50daf11b720d Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/7699d13a-806a-11e8-af48-190d103e32a4 Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/3c437b42-c6f8-11e8-ba8f-ee390057b8c9 UNCTAD: https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/wir2018_en.pdf Afrobarometer: http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Dispatches/ab_r6_dispatchno122_perceptions_of_china_in_africa1.pdf McKinsey: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/middle-east-and-africa/the-closest-look-yet-at-chinese-economic-engagement-in-africa Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1335418/chinese-leaders-visit-africa-more-often-than-you-think-and-not-always-the-places-you-expect/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1324618/china-is-kenyas-largest-creditor-with-72-of-total-bilateral-debt/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1323666/china-and-djibouti-have-launched-africas-biggest-free-trade-zone/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1310072/china-in-nigerias-economy-from-huawei-to-small-businesses/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1297093/china-will-host-the-china-africa-defense-forum/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1291372/chinas-yuan-gets-support-from-africa-central-banks-to-replace-us-dollar-reserve/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1283192/chinas-tourism-to-africa-is-growing-as-visa-rules-are-relaxed/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/661331/south-africa-is-targeting-chinese-and-indian-tourists-after-relaxing-its-visa-rules/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1030978/china-is-training-africas-next-generation-of-aviation-and-transport-officials/ Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/1351749/chinas-confucius-institutes-in-africa-spread-mandarin-culture/ https://eng.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/jcsj/dsjkydyl/40513.htm https://www.focac.org/eng/ltjj_3/ltffcy/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718517303056 http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/29/c_137213337.htm https://www.sais-cari.org/data-chinese-loans-to-africa https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2018/why-china-is-increasing-its-military-presence-in-africa/ http://en.sasac.gov.cn/2018/08/30/c_380.htm
The African Route A Vision Economics have forever known an alchemy-like effect to an equation comprised of resources, gates to the world and logistical facilities. Application of such combination can be seen as early as the Silk Road or as recently as the Trans-European railway network. The impact of such complementary factors is usually the intensification of trade and capital gain. So, imagine a pathway which connects the Nile Valley’s wealth to the diamond rich African Heart; a track bringing together the Gold of the South with the Ancient Ports to the North or the Ivory gates of the West and the Indian Ocean Coast. Such an ambitious network connecting the world’s demand and shortage to the African supply and surplus, and vice-versa, could create a climacteric junction in the history of global economy. This vision, as poetic as it can be, could become a reality and it has been in fact sought. The Cape to Cairo Railway During the colonial era, the British Empire had managed to stretch its arms across the African continent. Seeking opportunity in such circumstances, Cecil Rhodes, a British businessman and politician had a vision of a railway that would connect edges of the Garden of Eden we call Africa. The project was named Rhodes Colossus, in reference to Greek titan statue (Phan, 2012). The main aim of the project was to facilitate the movement of the precious minerals, as well as provide a land supply line. However, due to delays caused by colonial skirmish, economic constraints and the death of Cecil, the railway construction failed, leaving some functional yet not fully linked railways (Talbot, 2015). Surely, times have changed since the conception of this African scale project. So, in order for such a scale project to take place, a feasibility test needs to be undertaken, bearing in mind the diverse range of contemporary factors, opportunities and challenges. Feasibility In terms of economies, it’s clearly visible that over the past 15 years, most African countries had experienced economic growth rates of around 5% per year. However, African states are not amongst the ranks of nations orienting their growth on competitive manufactured products but rather natural resources and domestic market growths (Zamfir, 2016). The question of “why have a trans-regional railway in Africa?” is answered by the African economic atmosphere and the opportunities an infrastructure project connecting land locked minerals to ports would bring the critical mining industry. Given the world’s constant need for African minerals and the ever-expanding global manufacturing and logistics, rapidly moving more amounts of material out of their source and nearer to demand could further improve the competitiveness of exporters. This makes the infrastructure improvement sought by both the private and public sector, as evidence suggests that African regions with longer transport corridors attract higher density of trade (African Economic Outlook, 2017). And on the contrary to how this seems to miss diversification elements developing nations might aspire, better infrastructure could facilitate future industrial projects. Regional scale railways would allow for new manufacturing possibilities owing to the speed with which minerals would travel from source to processing or manufacturing plants (Ott, 2014). A demonstration of the railway speed can be found in the new Chinese funded Standard Gauge train in Kenya. Nonetheless, there is a difference in reasons behind constructing a trans-regional railway in the East or the West and another in connecting East to West. This difference can be divided into purpose and impact. For example, the purpose behind constructing a regional railway connecting Eastern Africa would mainly be connecting the East into a fast shipping system and networking the landlocked areas with the ports that would act as trade hubs. Its impact would be further development of the Eastern African trade with other regions at a geographical marine proximity - Asia in this case. The impact of such a railway would be a surge in African-Asian trade if conducted in the East and African-Western trade if conducted with proximity to the Western shores. On the other hand, a railway connecting East to West would also be aimed at African-African trade as it is inefficient to assume that such a railway would be mainly aimed for international trade. For example, if a container ship is to move from Shanghai to Lagos, it would take 21 days on the shortest maritime route with the average cargo ship speed of 20 knots. While if such a trip was made through unloading in Mombasa and then moving by a railway to Lagos at a speed of 100 km/h, it would take no less than 15 days - assuming the most direct way between both cities can be made into a railway and excluding factors such as transit delays that could be in weeks. This can add expenses and risks to the shipping process which makes it less reasonable to use the railway for intercontinental trade, but rather African-African trade. A railway connecting Egyptian ports to South Africa also faces critical issues when approaching it for intercontinental trade. While it might in fact save time and present an eco-friendly solution to move European cargo by land across the continents poles, it remains less safe than a maritime route given the various organizational, security and legal challenges that might arise. Nonetheless, the impact of such a railway could initially be an improvement to the lagging African-African trade thwarted by the need of an improved infrastructure (Joel Ng And Densua Mumford, 2017). Governments have in fact realized the significance of such a route, which translated into the African Tripartite Free Trade Area agreement denoted to as the “Cape-to-Cairo” free trade zone. The agreement signed in Egypt encompasses nations equating about 60% of African GDP, 1 trillion dollars’ worth markets and 600 million citizens. However, the trade still faces many challenges, one of which is infrastructure (BBC, 2015). After realizing the compatibility of trans-scale railway projects with African internal and external needs, the question of funding is brought to one’s mind. Such scale projects are costly and their payoff is more visible in the long term, making it more feasible to conduct by multiple economies. This brings about the question of “How could such project be funded?” Given the positive outlook on China in Africa and the growing Chinese investment in Africa, it would be reasonable to seek Chinese funding and loans in order to move on with projects that are perhaps the next step in regionalizing African economies. Another factor pointing towards China is the Chinese institutionalization of infrastructure funds through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which might have led the African Bank Chief to express his interest in future cooperation with the AIIB (Reuters, 2015). Moreover, since 2000, China has in fact supported inter-city railway projects in Africa with $9.9 bn worth of aids (Morlin-Yron, 2017). In Mauritania, for example, China provided the state with 70% funds, equating to US$686 mn, in 2008 to create a 430-km long railway connecting coastal Nouakchott to landlocked phosphate sources (Xinhua Agnecy, 2008). Another recent example is the $4 billion Nairobi to Mombasa railway, 90% of which is funded by the Chinese Export Import Bank (David Pilling & Emily Feng, 2017). The project comes in light of Chinese investment in a $13 billion East African railway network being built by the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation. The “Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor” railways are designed to connect Mobasa, Nairobi, Juba, Kampala, Kigali, Bujumbura and other East African cities. This is expected to have an impact on the African-Asian exports, imports, investment, trade and even tourism. Chinese investment is also a funding possibility, where China Railway Materials Commercial Corporation has invested £167 mn in African Minerals Limited in return for stocks. The funds were in turn used to support infrastructure projects needed by the industry (African Minerals, 2010). However, with different regional considerations of proximities and trade interests put in place, Chinese funding my not necessarily always be the answer. Nonetheless, it remains one of the most visible answers to the question. All in all, the trend suggests that regional sized projects are very feasible as some are in fact underway. The current outlook seems to favor trans-regional railways as they present themselves being the more profitable and favorable option, while trans-continental projects are less likely to take place due to the lack of cooperation among different African regions and weakness of African production of goods. Nonetheless, the impact of the ongoing projects will be more visible in the future, and the intensification of trade that happens due to it will certainly set new business grounds worthy of research. Ahmed Soliman, Business Translator at Infomineo. Infomineo is a business research provider, with a focus on Africa and the Middle East. By performing primary and secondary research, Infomineo provides its clients, which include the majority of the leading global management consulting firms and several Fortune Global 500 companies, with high quality data that leads to decision making success. For more information please contact info@infomineo.com or visit www.infomineo.com. References African Economic Outlook. (2017). Trade policies and regional integration in Africa. http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/outlook: AfDB. African Minerals. (2010). Definitive agreements signed with China Railway Materials Commercial Corporation to develop Tonkolili Iron Ore Project. http://www.african-minerals.com/media/press-releases/definitive-agreements-signed-china-railway-materials-commercial-corporation. BBC. (2015). Africa creates TFTA - Cape to Cairo free-trade zone. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33076917. David Pilling & Emily Feng. (2017). Kenya’s $4bn railway gains traction from Chinese policy ambitions. https://www.ft.com/content/d0fd50ee-1549-11e7-80f4-13e067d5072c: Financial Times. Economic Community Of West Africa States. (n.d.). Transport. http://ecoslate.github.io/transport/index.htm. Joel Ng And Densua Mumford. (2017). The TFTA and intra-regional trade in Africa. https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/tfta-intra-regional-trade-africa/: How we made it in Africa. Morlin-Yron, S. (2017). All aboard! The Chinese-funded railways linking East Africa. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/21/africa/chinese-funded-railways-in-africa/: CNN. Ott, S. (2014). End of the line for 'Lunatic Express?' Kenya begins multi-billion dollar railway. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/06/business/end-of-the-line-kenya-railway/: CNN. Phan, S. (2012 ). Cecil Rhodes: The Man Who Expanded an Empire. Teacher Created Materials. Reuters. (2015). Africa bank chief wants to work with China-led AIIB. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-asia-aiib-africa-idUKKBN0N520T20150414. Talbot, F. A. (2015 ). The Railway Conquest of the World. Amberley Publishing Limited. Xinhua Agnecy. (2008). China Exim Bank to finance railway project in Mauritania. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-01/23/content_6417458.htm. Zamfir, I. (2016). Africa's Economic Growth: Taking off or slowing down? European Parliamentary Research Service.
In the past decades, China has been the center of all attentions, rising from a third world country to being the second largest economy in the world. While it eased access to its vast domestic market, it also emerged as the world’s factory floor, becoming a world class location to produce and source a wide range of products. Arising as a global economic powerhouse, China is now going on a shopping spree, buying companies and increasing cooperation with economies all around the world to capture opportunities that globalization stands to offer. (more…)