自2013年中國政府提出“一帶一路”倡議3年來，“一帶一路”已日益成為中國和平發展外交的一張亮麗名片以及廣受國際社會歡迎的全球公共產品。3年來，已經有100多個國家和國際組織參與“一帶一路”合作, 70多個沿線國家與中國簽署了共建“一帶一路”的合作協議。擁有豐富資源和巨大市場潛力以及強勁基礎設施建設需求的非洲大陸和沿線國家一樣，也積极參与到“一帶一路”建設之中，並希望在參與的過程中抓住這一發展的重要歷史機遇。美國特朗普政府雖然有意削減對非洲的援助，但卻希望在“美國優先”的思想主導下推動美國國內基礎設施建設的升級換代。雖然中國聚焦非洲，而美國更關注國內，但在基礎設施領域的交集其實也客觀上創造了一個中美雙方可以藉助“一帶一路”倡議在非洲合作的切入口。

近年來，隨着“一帶一路”倡議的推進，中非經濟合作正以互聯互通和產能合作為抓手穩步向前推進。首先是通過“一帶一路”戰略對基礎設施等互聯互通項目的投資來帶動非洲的工業化發展。幫助非洲打造從地面到天空的鐵路網、公路網以及非洲區域航空網絡等“三大網”的建設，以助力非洲實現其把非洲所有國家的首都用鐵路連接起來的“世紀夢想”以及大力推進非洲工業化及經濟一體化的進程，這不僅是中國的大國責任以及作為非洲真誠發展夥伴的必然擔當，同時也是中非經貿合作轉型升級的必然要求。2015年12月中非合作論壇約翰內斯堡峰會提出的中非“十大合作計劃”中，“中非工業化合作”和“基礎設施合作”是其中最為重要的合作內容，也是推動非洲經濟發展的“雙引擎”。中國為此專門設立了首批100億美元資金的“中非產能合作基金”，還為中非發展基金和非洲中小企業發展專項貸款各增資50億美元。並擬與非洲合作新建或升級一批工業園區，設立一批區域職業教育中心和若干能力建設學院，為非洲培訓20萬名職業技術人才，提供4萬個來華培訓名額。目前，中非產能合作已取得重要早期收穫，亞的斯亞貝巴至吉布提的鐵路已於2016年10月如期竣工通車，蒙巴薩—內羅畢鐵路順利推進並將於2017年竣工，兩條鐵路沿線工業園區和產業帶建設也已初見成效。

據不完全統計，自中非約翰內斯堡峰會以來，中非簽署協議總計已達245項，涉及金額507.55億美元。從結構上看，中國對非援助僅占協議總額的1.07%，優惠性質貸款僅佔6.24%，而中國企業對非直接投資和商業貸款合計465.53億美元，占協議總金額的91.73%，中非合作出現了從以政府援助為主向企業投資和融資合作為主轉型，從一般商品貿易向產能合作和加工貿易升級，從工程承包向投資和金融合作升級的良好勢頭。

美國總統特朗普不久前表示，其關於美國的基礎設施建設計劃已經快要完成，該計劃預計將在10年中花費1萬億美元。據悉該計劃不僅包括公路大橋的建設，還包括能源、水、潛在寬帶和退伍軍人醫院的建設等等。近期還有消息稱，特朗普政府有意加強與中國在基礎設施建設領域的合作，而富有資金和技術優勢的中國公司也摩拳擦掌準備到美國的基建市場大展身手。在人們暢想中美公司在美國的基礎設施建設中開展合作的美好圖景時，其實我們只需把思維半徑稍加放大，把視野投向非洲，同樣可以看到中美通過“一帶一路”倡議為契機在非洲基礎設施建設中合作的前景。

非洲大陸每年基礎設施建設的資金缺口高達1000億美元。在融資方面，中美首先可以嘗試通過中國倡議推動成立的亞投行、金磚銀行（現更名為“新發展銀行”），以及中國出資設立的“絲路基金”與美國主導的世界銀行、亞洲開發銀行等機構合作，共同投資非洲的基礎設施建設項目；其次，隨着中非合作出現從以政府援助為主向企業投資和融資合作為主的轉型，中國企業（包括國企以及越來越多的私人企業）與美國企業共同投資、承建甚至運營非洲的基礎設施建設項目也並不是一個遙不可及的“空中樓閣”。

非洲國家以及非洲聯盟為加快工業化和基礎設施建設進程，早已制定了《非洲發展新夥伴計劃》（the New Partnership for Africa's Development – NEPAD，2001年發佈）、《加速非洲工業化發展行動計劃》（2008年發佈）、《非洲基礎設施發展規劃宣言》（2013年發佈）以及《非洲2063願景》（Agenda 2063，2013年發佈）等重要發展戰略文件。非洲希望通過與中國“一帶一路”發展戰略的對接，抓住歷史發展機遇，推動非洲工業化和基礎設施建設的進程，將21世紀打造為非洲發展的世紀。而在這一歷史進程中，作為世界第一和第二大經濟體的美國與中國，理應承擔起歷史的責任。

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, it has become a signature achievement of China's diplomacy of peaceful development and has been well-received globally. In the three years since it was proposed, more than 100 countries and international organizations have participated in Belt and Road cooperation, and more than 70 countries related to the initiative have signed agreements with China to cooperate in the Belt and Road construction. Africa, which has rich resources, huge market potential and strong demand for infrastructure, has also actively embraced the Belt and Road, eager to grasp the historic opportunity.The US government, under President Donald Trump, wants to reduce its aid to Africa and to upgrade its domestic infrastructure facilities under the doctrine of “America First”. African development is one of the priorities in China's international cooperation plans, and the United States cares more about its domestic infrastructure upgrading. But both China and the US stress infrastructure construction, and this could offer an opportunity for the two to cooperate in Africa under the Belt and Road Initiative.

China-African cooperation is advancing steadily through infrastructure connectivity and industrial cooperation. First, to promote Africa's industrialization through investments in infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, Three planned transport networks — railway, highway and aviation — will be constructed on the African continent, designed to linking the capital cities of all African countries, and industrialization and economic integration in Africa will also be greatly promoted. This is not only the responsibility of China as a big country and as Africa's true friend, but also the requirement to transform and upgrade China-African economic cooperation and trade. Of the 10 major cooperation plans put forward at the Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in December 2015, the plans for industrialization and infrastructure cooperation were the most prominent aspects, and were also the “dual engines” driving Africa's economic growth. To implement the plans, the China-Africa Fund for Industrial Cooperation was set up, with initial capital of $10 billion from China, and China also arranged an additional $5 billion for the China-Africa Development Fund and an additional $5 billion in special loans for the development of small and medium-sized African enterprises. China planned to construct or upgrade a batch of industrial parks in African countries, and set up regional vocational training and education centers and several capacity-building colleges to train 200,000 technical workers for Africa. China also planned to provide training opportunities in China for 40,000 Africans. At present, the China-Africa industrial cooperation has already started bearing fruit. The Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway was completed and put into operation as scheduled in October 2016, and the Mombasa-Nairobi railway is progressing smoothly and is slated for completion this year. The construction of industrial parks and industrial belts along the two railways is also making good progress.

According to incomplete statistics, since the Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in December 2015, China and African nations have signed 245 agreements, involving investments totaling $50.755 billion. Of the amount, Chinese government aid to Africa accounted for a mere 1.07%, preferential loans took up only 6.24%, and direct investments by Chinese enterprises and commercial loans took the lion's share — $46.553 billion or 91.73% of the total. This indicated that China-Africa cooperation has shifted from government aid to corporate investments and financing cooperation; from general merchandise trade to production capacity cooperation and processing trade; and from contract engineering to investments and financial cooperation. These trends are still gaining momentum.

Not long ago, US President Trump said that his infrastructure plan has been “largely completed”, and the infrastructure package could cost $1 trillion in investment in 10 years. It has been learned that the plan covers more than transportation infrastructure such as highways and bridges, it will also include the construction of facilities such as energy, water and potentially broadband and veterans hospitals. The latest news suggests that the Trump administration wants to strengthen cooperation with China in the field of infrastructure construction, and Chinese companies, which have abundant cash and technological advantages, are also eager to play their role in the American market of infrastructure construction. When people begin to visualize cooperation between Chinese and US companies in American infrastructure construction, we could also envision the bright prospects of Chinese-US cooperation in infrastructure construction in Africa under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The African continent is short as much as $100 billion of funds for infrastructure construction on a yearly basis. In terms of financing, China and the US could, first of all, explore ways to jointly invest in African infrastructure projects through cooperation between the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the BRICS Development Bank (now New Development Bank) and the China-invested Silk Road Fund with financial institutions such as the US-dominated World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Second, along with China-Africa cooperation shifting from government aid towards corporate investment and financing, Chinese companies (both State-owned enterprises and a growing number of private firms) may jointly invest in, undertake to construct and even operate infrastructure projects in Africa together with American companies, and such scenarios are no longer something out of reach.

To accelerate the process of industrialization and infrastructure construction, African nations and the African Union have already formulated important strategies for development, including the New Partnership for Africa's Development (issued in 2001), the Action Plan for Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa (published in 2008), the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (issued in 2013) and Agenda 2063 (issued in 2013). Africa pins high hopes on its integration with the Belt and Road Initiative to promote African industrialization and infrastructure construction, and to turn the 21st century into an era of African development. During this process, the US and China, the two largest economies in the world, could and should play historic roles.