The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) presents opportunities for the realization of a shared future for humanity because it aims to bring about global prosperity that is equitably shared among nations, a Zambian expert said in an interview with Xinhua.
Dr Njunga Mulikita said the BRI offers a new view of globalization that is more compassionate and more inclusive.
"This is different from conventional globalization which we see in Western literature, where capitalism basically rules. It concentrates wealth in the hands of a few people and countries while the rest of the world is left behind in misery and poverty, then you have a breeding ground for extremism and other social ills," asserted Mulikita.
According to him, the BRI is a trade route, which is an important pathway that links the world together through infrastructure development. The idea is to ensure that infrastructure is built, jobs are created and human prosperity is generated.
Mulikita, who is Dean, School of Social Sciences at Mulungulushi University, said the project is also beneficial to Africa as it helps to enhance the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is also about infrastructure development, and that the vision of the AfCFTA is compatible with that of the BRI.
However, Mulikita said some sections of the global community have rendered unfavourable comments about the BRI with some labelling it as a tool to colonize developing countries.
They even used to say that China was going to colonize Zambia and Tanzania when it helped us build the Tanzania-Zambia railway line decades ago, but that never happened, and the Western world refused to help us put up the railway, he said.
Mulikita said that the unfavourable reports about the BRI are just a manifestation of frustrations from those that are losing influence in places where they once dominated.
"The West traditionally has dominated. It has held hegemonies, so this is the source of the dramatic and hostile narrative that is coming from the Western media," he asserted.
Mulikita implored African countries to work towards making the BRI work for Africa and derive maximum benefits from it by exploring opportunities that speak to the needs of the continent.
