New Global Financial Order and Promotion of Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank (AIIB): Opportunities and Challenges for Africa

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to examine the effect of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on infrastructural development in developing countries with specific reference to Africa. The paper argues that availability of infrastructure has become one of the major problems in the process of economic development generally in the Global South. Given the need for hugecapital infrastructure in the region and thepresence of the financing gap in infrastructure financing, China initiated the establishment of the AIIB, therefore, heralding a new chapter in the international finance system. The study uses the “New Model Development Finance” lens to discuss Global Governance of Finance with a historical overview of GlobalFinancial Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that have been in existence for close to seven decades. It identifies the majorchallenges which emerging economies have with existing international financial institutions as well as some opportunities and challenges for African countries. It observes that the establishment of AIIB is a major diplomatic victory for China and a foreign policy fiasco for the United States. It argues further that the new bank is a parallel project to the existing international financial institutions and may accidentally lead to a reform of the Bretton Woods system. The paper recommends among others that AIIB should find a way to work hand-in-hand with other existing Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) since cooperation with such development agencies can engender positive image and goodwill for the new bank. It concludes that the establishment and development of AIIB need support from all over the world because AIIB is designed to provide financing methods for infrastructure in developing countries across the globe including African nations.