Chinese involvement in Africa has been scrutinized in the West as having self-serving interests, while China claims that their loans are for the mutual benefit of China and the recipient. One such reason the West remains suspicious of China's relationship with African countries is that Chinese aid usually is doled out in the form of loans in which the recipient's natural resource reserves serve as collateral. As many of these loans have not gone out of term as China's involvement in Africa is still a recent phenomenom, it is hard to determine whether or not these loans will ultimately help or hurt recipient countries.
- Identify significant relationships between the presence of natural resources and the impact of Chinese aid in African countries
- Identify whether or not Chinese aid flows are more significantly correlated with resources which China lacks or with resources that China is rich in (ex. rare earths, which, if true, would have further geopolitical consequences for the West).
- Desintation of aid flows
- Economic indicators
- Identify whether or not there is a significant relationship between natural resource reserves and/or rents and the allocation of Chinese interest-free and concessional loans.
- Identify whether or not there is a significant relationship between individual natural resource reserves and/or rents and the allocation of Chinese interest-free and concessional loans
- Identify relationships between Chinese interest-free + concessional loans and economic indicators in African countries
- Identify relatioships between Chinese interest-free + concessional loans and economic indicators indicators in African countries when interacted with the amounts of natural resources present in the recipient country.