When China's Belt and Road infrastructure scheme was hatched in 2013, we all wished it well as the Chinese appeared to approach their final ascent into global normality and middle class life.

The shipping world had no quarrel with Belt and Road because what was good for trade was all that mattered. And if nothing else, Belt and Road was good for trade.

While its global reach was eye catching, and most intriguing to ocean carriers, that was not the focus of Belt and Road itself. It chiefly sought to install infrastructure, heavy infrastructure at that.

The idea seemed sound. By 2013, China's cash reserves were looking for something useful and remunerative to do. They knew how to build infrastructure and would lend money to sovereign borrowers to see that it was built.

Thus, the building of Kenya's Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) commenced in 2014, with construction led by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).