Chinese Environmental, Social, and Governance Practices in Africa

 The South African Institute of International Affairs published in August 2023 a study titled "Elevating ESG: Empirical Lessons on Environmental, Social and Governance Implementation of Chinese Projects in Africa" by Cecilia Springer, Keyi Tang, Christoph Nedopil, Chris Alden, and Cobus van Staden.  

The study assesses the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices of Chinese financed infrastructure projects in Egypt, Nigeria, and Ethiopia within the context of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.  It concludes that Chinese financiers and regulators should take steps to guarantee awareness of and compliance with ESG rules by small- and medium-sized Chinese companies operating in Africa.  

Podcast on Industrialization in Ethiopia

 The Nanyang Technological University posted on 30 January 2023 a 30 minute podcast on its Singapore-Africa Conversation titled "State Intervention and Industrialisation of Ethiopia" with Arkebe Oqubay, former special adviser to the Ethiopian prime minister.

Oqubay explained that Ethiopia is following the East Asian (China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea) model of economic development.  He said the "Washington consensus" model is not appropriate for Ethiopia.  Oqubay discussed the role of state intervention in an economy where the private sector is the primary actor.  Ethiopia's most important economic advantage is its demography, especially its young population and investment in skills training.

Comment:  This is a highly positive conversation.  There was no mention, for example, of the impact of conflict on the Ethiopian economy.  

Critical Infrastructure in China's Africa Strategy

 The National Bureau of Asian Research published on 3 May 2022 a major study titled "(In) Roads and Outposts: Critical Infrastructure in China's Africa Strategy" edited by Nadege Rolland.

It examines the implications of China's growing presence in African ports, railways, industrial parks, information and telecommunication networks, and power generation.  It has chapters by Isaac Kardon on ports, Yunnan Chen on railways, Daria Impiombato on telecommunications, Erica Downs on power, and Thierry Pairault on industrial parks.  

Ethiopia: Following China's Industrial Park Model

The Diplomat published on 16 April 2020 an analysis titled "China and Ethiopia, Part 4: Mekelle Industrial Park" by Istvan Tarrosy, Zoltan Voros, and Seife Hailu Gebreslassie.

The Mekelle Industrial Park in Tigray State follows the Chinese model and houses mainly Asian companies. The focus is on textiles and apparel. The success of this and other industrial parks depends in large part on the supporting infrastructure such as roads, electricity, and modern technology. The Mekelle Industrial Park still has some distance to go in this regard.

Comparing Ethiopia and Vietnam's Special Economic Zones

The China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies published in April 2019 a paper titled "Lessons from East Asia: Comparing Ethiopia and Vietnam's Early-Stage Special Economic Zone Development" by Keyi Tang.

The paper compares how Ethiopia and Vietnam have learned from East Asian countries' experiences in developing their own special economic zones (SEZs). A Chinese and a Taiwanese overseas SEZ were the first SEZs developed respectively in Ethiopia and in Vietnam, which provided lessons for domestic policymakers on how to better improve the legal and institutional framework, infrastructure, and administrative services needed for SEZ development.

Chinese Manufacturing Investments and Knowledge Transfer in Ethiopia

The China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies published in March 2019 a study titled "Chinese Manufacturing Investments and Knowledge Transfer: A Report from Ethiopia" by Tang Xiaoyang, Tsinghua University.

The paper examines knowledge transfer mechanisms between Chinese investments and Ethiopian firms, institutions, and individuals at four different levels in the manufacturing sector.

China-Ethiopia Trade and Investment Relations

The University of Johannesburg Confucius Institute published in September 2018 a study titled "Sino-Ethiopia Trade and Investment Relations: Actors, Determinants and Trends" by Messay Mulugeta, Addis Ababa University.

China-Ethiopia trade reached more than $3 billion in 2017, nearly all of it Ethiopian imports from China. Chinese investment stock in Ethiopia approached $3.5 billion by 2017. The challenge for Ethiopia is to adapt Chinese resources and technologies to local circumstances and local priorities, ensuring that development is sustainable, environmentally sound, and protects rather than displaces local communities.

Industrial Parks and Free Zones in Ethiopia and Morocco

The Brenthurst Foundation published in January 2019 a discussion paper titled "A Tale of Two Free Zones Learning from Africa's Success" by Greg Mills.

The author concluded that to ensure the free zones are more than just sweatshops, Ethiopia and Morocco have demonstrated that the full package of policy issues must be addressed, including political stability, free trade deals, logistics to and through ports, integrated value chains, and tax and other incentives.

The Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia was built by the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Corporation at a cost of $250 million. It hosts 98 (mostly Chinese) enterprises, employing 14,500 Ethiopians and 1,100 Chinese. Morocco's development of a new port, known as Tangier Med, has three free zones in the port and two industrial parks at the nearby city of Tetouan. It is a $4 billion public investment concentrated on the port, purchase of the land, and construction of 50 kilometers of expressway.

China's Special Economic Zones in Africa: Who Are They For?

HAL archives-ouvertes published in December 2018 a paper titled "China in Africa: Phoenix Nests versus Special Economic Zones" by Thierry Pairault, emeritus director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

The paper focuses on the question of whether the Overseas Economic and Commercial Cooperation Zones (OECCZ) model that China is proposing in African countries and those along the Silk Road matches the definition of a SEZ as understood by Chinese researchers and commentators themselves. The author tentatively concludes that the OECCZ is above all "building a nest to accommodate the Phoenix [China]" without much consideration for the host countries' needs.

Chinese Manufacturing Operations in Ethiopia (French/English)

Thierry Pairault, CNRS--Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, recently posted a short note in English dated 26 February 2018 titled "China in Ethiopia: About Humanwell." It describes the process followed by a midsize Chinese pharmaceutical company, Humanwell Healthcare Group, to establish a manufacturing plant in Ethiopia and why a much larger Western company, GlaxoSmithKline, chose not to invest there.

The second piece dated 3 November 2018 and in French is titled "Ethiopie: chaussures et parcs industriels." It is a longer account of the Hujian shoe company and Chinese industrial parks in Ethiopia.

China, Africa and Industrial Parks (in French)

Thierry Pairault recently posted an analysis titled "La Chine en Afrique et la question des parc industriels" that draws on research in Chinese by Chinese authors.

The study describes five different types of industrial parks, the different ways they operate, and the challenges they face.

Ethiopia to Lead Africa's Industrial Revolution?

Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) recently posted a piece titled "Ethiopia Stands to Lead an African Industrial Revolution" by Nebil Kellow, managing director of Enterprise Partners.

There has been much discussion in recent years about African industrialization. Ethiopia has done far better than most African countries in building industrial parks and industrial capacity, but most of Africa, including Ethiopia, has a long way to go before industry will constitute a significant component of GNP. Most African countries might be better advised to focus on reforming and improving agriculture before they try to industrialize.

Can Ethiopia Be Africa's Leading Manufacturing Hub?

The BBC ran a story on 24 August 2017 titled "Can Ethiopia Be Africa's Leading Manufacturing Hub?"

Drawing heavily on the China model, Ethiopia is expanding industrial parks in an effort to provide employment for a rapidly growing population. The question is whether Ethiopia can increase the number of jobs fast enough to keep up with population growth and whether economic development also leads to democratization.

Ethiopia: East Africa's New Economic Power

Deutsche Welle posted on 26 June 2017 an article titled "Ethiopia: East Africa's New Economic Power" by Martina Schwikowski.

The author comments that Ethiopia's economy is booming with an average economic growth rate per year in the past decade of 10.8 percent and is expected to overtake Kenya soon to become East Africa's largest economy. The question is how sustainable this boom is in a country that has been under a state of emergency since October 2016 following protests against government policies and human rights abuses.

Ethiopia: European Investment Project for Ethiopians and Refugees

The European Investment Bank (EIB) published on 21 September 2016 an article titled "EIB President Pledges Support for 'Jobs Compact' in Ethiopia Tackling Migration and Refugee Challenge."

The article describes an innovative project whereby the EIB, World Bank, British government, and other European Union states would invest $500 million to build two industrial parks that would provide employment for 100,000 persons. The government of Ethiopia has reportedly committed to offer 30,000 of the jobs to the 730,000 refugees in Ethiopia from South Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea. Some 60,000 jobs would go to Ethiopians. It is not clear what happens to the remaining 10,000 jobs. Europe's interest in this project is to reduce the flow of refugees to Europe.

While the project has much to recommend it, it remains to be seen if it would have much impact on the flow of African refugees to Europe. There is also the delicate question as to how you select from 730,000 refugees the 30,000 who would take up permanent residence in Ethiopia.