Commentary Beijing has Africa in its sights because the continent has the resources it needs to realize its great power ambitions. Consequently, huge energy has been invested into growing the Belt and Road’s penetration into Africa. The core focus of Belt and Road in Africa has been the building of railways, roads, ports, airports, and power plants to service the China-owned mines, oil fields and farms that now send their products to China. However, an often overlooked feature of Belt and Road has been Beijing’s attempts to copy America’s soft power model. On balance, China’s soft power efforts have failed in most regions of the world. But in Africa, Beijing has had much soft power success. One reason why Beijing’s soft power has worked in Africa is that across the continent, there exists a deeply embedded narrative of anti-colonialism. But importantly, the African version of the anti-colonial narrative was strongly …