Abstract
This paper provides a preliminary analysis of the nature of Chinese manufacturing investments in Africa, focusing predominantly on four countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania – but also including examples as illustrations from other countries, when appropriate. Drawing on fieldwork conducted between 2014 and 2015, the paper explores the varieties of existing Chinese manufacturing investment and the sectors into which Chinese companies are investing. We demonstrate in this paper that Chinese manufacturing investment in Africa is indeed expanding rapidly, yet the official data on investment approvals, both in China and in African countries, significantly overstates the actual number of investments in operation. Several investors do fit the model of Akamatsu’s ‘flying geese’: large firms seeking new locations for production as part of global networks and value chains. However, we also identified three other kinds of ‘geese’: large, strategic, local market-seeking geese; raw material-seeking geese; and small geese travelling together in flocks. The different kinds of firms offer different kinds of development opportunities and challenges for structural transformation in Africa.
Highlights
Provided in Cooperation with: China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University
WE BEGAN BY LOCATING AFRICAN COUNTRIES where Chinese companies appeared to have set up a significant number of manufacturing operations
Obtaining a database of overseas foreign direct investment (OFDI) registrations between 2000 and 2014 from MOFCOM we found that the number of manufacturing proposals submitted by Chinese firms for investment approval in Africa began rising sharply in 2005
Summary
Provided in Cooperation with: China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University. Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms, Policy Brief, No 24/2018, China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, http://www.sais-cari.org/publications-policy-briefs. Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your personal and scholarly purposes. You are not to copy documents for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence
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