AMIDST an awesome display of pomp and pageantry, China launched Xi Jinping’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative which he described “as a bridge for peace, a road to prosperity, a way to boost inclusive growth and balanced development and to promote equality”. The Chinese president announced that China plans to invest billions of dollars to revive the ancient Silk Road and maritime trade routes. Various trade and infrastructure projects have been lined up to link China to Asia, Europe and Africa in a bid to promote economic development that is open, inclusive, and beneficial to all. The central theme of the OBOR is the creation of an economic land belt that include countries of the original Silk Road which passed through Central Asia, West Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as a maritime road that links China’s port facilities with the African coast, pushing up through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.