Pierre Andre has just published an op-ed in Les Échos discussing the political motivations behind foreign aid. Drawing on examples from Republic of the Congo and Togo, he shows that China appears to exchange foreign aid for access to the natural resources it needs to sustain its industrial growth.

He highlights how Chinese-funded projects are often concentrated in regions politically connected to ruling elites, even when their economic relevance is limited. In Congo, for instance, large-scale infrastructure investments have flowed to the hometown of the president despite modest local demand. A similar pattern emerges in Togo, where Chinese financing targets politically strategic regions rather than economically central ones. These examples illustrate how foreign aid can function as a tool of geopolitical influence, helping secure both political goodwill and access to valuable resources.

The Op-ed is based on his recent research paper Can donors prevent aid misallocations? Evidence from Chinese and World Bank aid co-authored with Paul Maarek and Fatoumata Tapo and published in World Development.