Assessing China’s Digital Silk Road: Huawei’s engagement in Nigeria

The role of information technology in today’s society has made digital infrastructure a critical aspect of geopolitics. Although the private sector has traditionally led such developments, there is increasing evidence that countries are now slowly getting involved. This paper argues that as part of its Digital Silk Road (DSR) initiative, the People’s Republic of China (“China”) is incentivizing private actors, such as Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei, to build digital infrastructure abroad, so as to generate security externalities for China. This is evidenced by our case study involving Huawei’s involvement in Nigeria in the realm of digital infrastructure development, the formulation of digital strategies, and associated standards.