China's development Aid Effectiveness in Africa

Following the publication of the AidData database on Chinese financial flows in 2016, it has become possible to differentiate between Chinese commercial and humanitarian financial flows. Based on the assumption that Chinese aid differs from traditional ODA, many studies have tried to identify its impact on economic growth, corruption, and the environment. However, there is no final consensus on its impact on socioeconomic welfare in recipient countries. Employing the African continent as the main unit of analysis, since it represents the major recipient of Chinese ODA-like aid, this research has attempted to uncover the effects on the socioeconomic welfare dimension. For this purpose, the impact of Chinese ODA-like aid on HDI and its component dimensions Health, Education, and Income has been analyzed from 2002 to 2016. The findings indicate that in recipient African countries Chinese ODA-like aid has a positive effect on HDI and its component dimensions: however, investment and are shown traditional ODA to fare better than Chinese aid.