AIIB Membership for African Countries: Drawcards and Drawbacks

This briefing examines the motivations, benefits, and challenges for African nations considering membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), noting a significant infrastructure finance gap and differing levels of suitability based on a country's income level.

• African countries face a substantial annual infrastructure finance deficit estimated to be between $68 billion and $108 billion.
• While the AIIB provides an attractive source of low-cost finance, its appeal is diminished for many African nations due to a lack of financial instruments for low-income countries outside of Asia and limited support for technical capacity-building.
• The document concludes that middle-income African countries are more likely to derive benefits from AIIB membership compared to low-income countries.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2019). AIIB Membership for African Countries: Drawcards and Drawbacks. https://saiia.org.za/research/aiib-membership-for-african-countries-drawcards-and-drawbacks/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. AIIB Membership for African Countries: Drawcards and Drawbacks. 2019. https://saiia.org.za/research/aiib-membership-for-african-countries-drawcards-and-drawbacks/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=AIIB Membership for African Countries: Drawcards and Drawbacks |date=13 September 2019 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/aiib-membership-for-african-countries-drawcards-and-drawbacks/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2019aiib, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{AIIB Membership for African Countries: Drawcards and Drawbacks}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/aiib-membership-for-african-countries-drawcards-and-drawbacks/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }