Networked Internationalization: Chinese Companies in Ethiopia’s Infrastructure Construction Sector

Abstract

Chinese companies have emerged as crucial players in Africa’s infrastructure construction sector. Existing literature largely views Chinese companies as state-orchestrated actors that undertake government-financed projects in Africa. There is insufficient attention to the concurrent internationalization of diverse construction actors, specifically subcontractors, material suppliers, and service providers who often have different ownership status, provincial origin, and overseas competitiveness. Employing a resource- and network-based perspective, this article uncovers the networked internationalization of Chinese construction players and investigates their capacities and constraints to operate in Africa. Empirical research was conducted with a group of Chinese companies in Ethiopia between 2016 and 2017. Findings indicate that the internationalization of Chinese companies is a hybrid process of leveraging central and local government support back in China, externalizing domestic industrial relations, and building up local credentials in the host country. Companies’ overseas competitiveness and performance are shaped by the amount and type of resources that they can mobilize, which is further implicated by their positions in the construction industry. Such positions are, however, subject to change and contingent on the assemblage of resources companies can pool together during their overseas ventures.