The Information Society published in 2024 an analysis titled "Learning along the Digital Silk Road? Technology Transfer, Power, and Chinese ICT Corporations in North Africa" by Tin Hinane El-Kadi, London School of Economics.
The analysis investigates the technology spillovers emanating from two Chinese tech giants--Huawei and ZTE--in Algeria and Egypt. It argues that despite localizing activities that bear the promise of generating significant linkages, the two Chinese tech firms created no meaningful learning opportunities for domestic entities that contribute to technological upgrading. The Digital Silk Road risks creating new technological dependencies; locking local ICT actors into activities and relationships captured and defined by Chinese tech giants.
