Algeria is the latest country to join Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Under the initiative, launched in 2013 as “one belt, one road,” China commits billions of dollars of infrastructure investment in countries along the old Silk Road. The initiative focuses on the Maritime Silk Road, which connects China and Europe via India, East Africa and the Red Sea states, and on the Silk Road Economic Belt, which includes Central Asia, Russia, and the Middle East. Over 90 countries from various continents have joined this initiative. In 2017, China’s exports to Algeria hit $8.3 billion, representing 18.1 percent of the North African country’s total imports, which stood at $45.95 billion.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 05, 2018 10:41 UTC