Links I Liked

Michael Geiger and Chorching Goh, “Chinese FDI in Ethiopia” World Bank. A report of a survey taken in mid-2012 of 69 Chinese enterprises active in Ethiopia. This is a good example of real information, painstakingly collected via fieldwork. Too often analyses of Chinese FDI simply report figures from African offices of investment promotion. These can bear little resemblance to actual investment.

Li Liu,  “Land Acquisition in Africa for Agricultural Purposes: The case of sugar cane plantation and sugar mill in Ethiopia,” master’s thesis at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. This case study analyzes the potential profitability of an investment that has, in fact, not (yet) gone forward. It’s technically sophisticated but from my end, raises more interesting questions: if it was so profitable on paper, why didn’t this investment go forward? A hat tip to the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.

Herman Wasserman, “China in Africa: A Long Affair,” Rhodes Journalism Review, No. 32 Reports on a content analysis of South African media reporting on China, other BRICs, and European/Western powers. Content was more balanced than expected.

Deborah Brautigam, “Is China Causing Africa’s Free Press Problem?” a short commentary published by Rhodes Journalism Review, No. 32. If you’re interested in this issue, see my commentary on “Winds from the East,” at Pambazuka (January 2011).

Global Governance 2022 Fellows Program:  While not specifically on China-in-Africa, this interesting program has two groups of fellows focused on China’s role in international energy governance, and in international development assistance. A hat tip to Richard Carey.

2013-01-04 09:50:22

Source: http://www.chinaafricarealstory.com/2013/01/links-i-liked.html