How similar is Chinese investment in Africa to the West’s?
August 22, 2015
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with South African President Jacob Zuma at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 4, 2014.[/caption]
China’s economic engagement in Africa has generated a lot of controversy. Headlines in Western newspapers have read: “Into Africa: China’s Wild Rush,” or “China in Africa: Investment or Exploitation?” At the same time, China is more popular among African populations (70 percent with a favorable view) than it is in Asia, Latin America, or Europe, according to Pew surveys. The popularity is no doubt linked to the fact that African growth rates have accelerated between the 1990s and the 2000s, and China’s trade and investment is part of the reason.
A snapshot of Chinese investment in the continent
In our new paper, ““Why is China investing in Africa? Evidence from the firm level,” we investigate one part of this engagement, China’s direct investment (called overseas direct investment, ODI by the Chinese). Our main innovation is to work with the firm-level data compiled by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). All Chinese enterprises making direct investments abroad have to register with MOFCOM. The resulting database provides the investing company’s location in China and line of business. It also includes the country to which the investment is flowing, and a description in Chinese of the investment project.
Prioritizing political stability
Part of the reason that our results differ from the common picture of Chinese investment in Africa is that we are looking at frequency of investment without reference to the size of the investment. We also use the aggregate data on the stock of Chinese ODI in different African countries to examine that allocation, compared to total foreign direct investment (FDI), which traditionally has mostly come from Western sources. Chinese investment may be growing rapidly, but it was only 3 percent of the stock of foreign investment in Africa at the end of 2011. The allocations of ODI and total FDI across 49 African countries have some important similarities: Both are attracted to larger markets and both are attracted to natural resource-rich countries. Many of the large Chinese investments are in energy and minerals, just as Western investment favors these natural resource projects. One important difference concerns governance: Other things equal, Western investment is concentrated in African countries with better property rights and rule of law. Chinese ODI is indifferent to the property rights/rule of law environment, and on the other hand tends to favor politically stable countries. This difference makes sense given that some significant part of the volume of Chinese investment is tied up in state-to-state resource deals. China is apparently more concerned with the political stability of the government than with the environment of rule of law in the domestic economy. In light of these different tendencies of ODI and FDI, Chinese investment tends to be a large share of total investment in countries with poor rule of law. By using both the volume data on Chinese ODI—in which the big resource deals no doubt play a dominant role—and the firm-level registration data, which is dominated by small and medium private firms, we think that we have drawn a nuanced and accurate picture of Chinese investment on the continent.Nkemnji Global Tech
Featured

CAJ Congratulates Moalimmuu on Appointment as Somali Government Spokesperson.
Pan African Visions | January 20, 2021 7:58 am

The rights of disabled Youths still a pipe dream in Sierra Leone
Pan African Visions | January 20, 2021 5:40 am

Sierra Leone: Memories of civil war still fresh in minds of victims on anniversary
Pan African Visions | January 20, 2021 5:17 am

Pan-African-Vision Agenda and Aspiration Five [5] Shine as President Mnangagwa Signs Fact-Book .
Pan African Visions | January 19, 2021 6:59 pm
Recent News
-
US Government Imposes Visa Restrictions on Tanzanian Officials Over Elections
January 21, 2021 1:27 am
-
Kenya power rolls out smart meters
January 21, 2021 1:10 am
-
Kenya, Rwanda sign deal to foster tourism
January 21, 2021 1:04 am
-
The role of technology in unlocking trade value in East Africa
January 20, 2021 4:24 pm
-
CAJ Congratulates Moalimmuu on Appointment as Somali Government Spokesperson.
January 20, 2021 7:58 am
Leave a Reply