The Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa published in November a paper titled “Competing for Development? The European Union and China in Ethiopia.”
Written by Christine Hackenesch, a researcher at the German Development Institute, it assesses the competitive pressure that China’s growing presence in Africa puts on EU development policy in Ethiopia.
For the EU, Ethiopia is the largest aid recipient in Africa. For China, Ethiopia is not so much an aid recipient as an important economic and political ally in its Africa policy.
The paper argues that Chinese financial flows to Ethiopia are largely complementary to European aid, providing the Ethiopian government with resources needed to implement its ambitious development strategy. China has emerged as an alternative partner to the Ethiopian government, providing a different development strategy and an alternative approach to economic and political reform.