Making things more interesting,  India and Japan this month launched their own similar(albeit geographically narrower)  initiative: The Asia Africa Growth Corridor(AAGC), aka the Freedom Corridor.   Right now its still in the  development bank and think tank press release phase,   but India and Japan have strong incentive to follow up with real money pretty quickly.  India and Africa have a deep history of mercantile and maritime connections.  India’s Exim bank has already funded $8 billion in credit in Africa, according to Modi’s speech during an African Development Bank meeting, which was held in India last week.  Port infrastructure in East Africa and the Indian Ocean are likely to be the first priorities, along with agriculture and electricity.  Incidentally,  India and Japan are also  building a LNG terminal in Sri Lanka, a country that is heavily in debt to China as a result of controversial infrastructure projects.

There is a Chinese aphorism,  “When the sandpiper and the clam grapple, it is the fisherman who profits” (鹬蚌相争渔翁得利).  If China and India really end up competing by spending money around East Africa, companies involved in building or benefiting from improved infrastructure could reap a decent reward.    Will the benefits accrue to any outside minority investors in publicly listed companies?  Too soon to tell, but it will be interesting to watch. The usual caveats about EM corruption and waste apply to AAGC as much as they do to OBOR, but the financial media is likely to oversimplify.  India and Japan’s now official strategy could impact select companies listed in India and Japan, in addition to companies in the less developed capital markets of East Africa and Sri Lanka.