Chinese FDIs into Africa have been on an upward trend for the better part of 21st Century and are ubiquitously spread all over the continent. Certainly, the investments have not been devoid of both the positive and negative impacts but most importantly, debate on the sustainability [or otherwise] of these investments rages. In fact, there is an emerging but inimitable view that the claim that the investments are unsustainable is skewed in favor of the westerners, who are also keen on locking in investment opportunities in Africa. This, therefore, does not rule out the fact that global or at least local politics do on occasion, play a role in shaping debates meant to depict Sino- Afro FDIs as habitually unsustainable. Notably, bad politics, especially in Africa, hold the potentiality of suppressing development. To prop up this hypothesis, the paper delves into the Chinese built Kenya’s SGR- a mega project that was on the brink of collapse after a politically instigated civil case seeking to stop it was filed. Ultimately, the court’s ruling on the matter, Parliamentary Committee Report on the project and a host of existing literature has ably debunked a politically initiated myth that Chinese investments in Africa customarily thrive on inaptness.
Keywords: Bilateral Investment Treaty, Sino- Afro FDIs, Standard Gauge Railway, Sustainable Development
