Japan and the African Development Bank

• In Event: East Asia and the Global Political Economy

Abstract

Africa has been a target of influence by major powers throughout history. In this paper, we investigate influence over Africa’s foremost international financial institution: the African Development Bank (AfDB). We focus on the two largest non-regional shareholders, the United States and Japan. Analysing panel data of AfDB loans and grants from 1995-2015, we find that an increase in the amount of bilateral aid commitments that a country receives from Japan and an increase in the degree to which a country votes alongside Japan at the United Nations are systematically associated with larger concessional commitments from the AfDB. We do not uncover robust evidence of US influence. Drawing on interview evidence, we argue that Japan’s imperial past and lack of historical ties with Africa encourage its more active engagement with the AfDB compared to the United States. This engagement opens up formal and informal channels of influence by allowing Japan’s national aid agency to directly engage with AfDB management and staff more frequently than the United States. Our results indicate that historical legacies might affect the ways in which global powers use international organizations to pursue their interests.

Authors

• Tetsekela Anyiam-Osigwe, Princeton University

• James Raymond Vreeland, Princeton University