INFRAFRICA investigated how foreign‑financed and foreign‑built infrastructure projects shaped economic, political, and social development in Africa. Against the backdrop of intensifying global competition—particularly among China, the EU, the US, and Japan—the project examined why similar infrastructure investments produced different development outcomes and how African actors negotiated and adapted to external engagement.
The project’s overarching objective was to develop a comparative analytical framework explaining how external actors’ financing models, governance arrangements, and firm strategies interacted with host‑country institutions, regulatory capacities, and political contexts. It conceptualized infrastructure—both physical and digital—not merely as a technical asset but as a space of negotiation, contestation, and adaptation. Over time, the research expanded into digital domains, analysing AI/cloud ecosystems, digital trade, and mineral‑digital linkages as these became central to Africa’s evolving development trajectory.
By integrating political economy, development studies, and broader social sciences, the project highlighted the diversity and distributed nature of African agency. It showed how institutional conditions and regulatory capabilities shaped local linkages, value distribution, and the developmental effects of external engagement. The findings held significant relevance for policymakers, especially those involved in infrastructure finance and digital strategy within European institutions. They contributed to debates surrounding initiatives such as the EU’s Global Gateway and to EU priorities on digital transformation, global partnerships, and equitable economic development.
Through academic publications, policy engagement, and interdisciplinary dialogue, INFRAFRICA strengthened understanding of how Africa’s physical and digital infrastructures were embedded in shifting geopolitical and economic environments. Its results provided a foundation for more context‑sensitive and effective strategies aimed at promoting sustainable and inclusive development across the continent.
