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This study critically examined the implications of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for economic regionalism in West Africa. Despite increasing BRI engagements in West Africa, the alignment of such projects with ECOWAS’s regional integration vision remained poorly understood. The study adopted the post-neo-functionalism theoretical framework, which emphasises external actors’ roles in driving or distorting regional integration in the Global South. A mixed qualitative method combining qualitative data from elite interviews and secondary data sources. The findings revealed that while BRI transport projects enhanced physical connectivity, their contribution to deeper regional integration was uneven due to limited ECOWAS oversight, fragmented implementation, and disparities in trade facilitation. China’s BRI in the sub-region has therefore deepened the emerging trajectories of structural dependence, vertical integration, and unequal economic relations. The study recommended that ECOWAS member states should adopt a unified ECOWAS-China Infrastructure Protocol, mandating that all BRI-funded projects undergo regional review and approval.
Charles et al. (Thu,) studied this question.