Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T22:07:49.125Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Beyond the China factor: challenges to backward linkages in the Mozambican construction sector

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2018

Ulrikke Wethal
Ulrikke Wethal*
Affiliation:
PO 1116 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo, Norway
*
Email: u.b.wethal@sum.uio.no
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

China has become a significant contributor to closing Africa's infrastructural gap, but Chinese companies are repeatedly criticised for not involving local businesses in their operations, and for isolating themselves from the socio-economic environment. Can this be attributed to ‘typical Chinese business practice’? This article employs linkage theory to examine the weak domestic backward linkages in Chinese-led construction projects in Mozambique. The analysis shows that while Chinese companies do not involve Mozambican businesses in their activities to any extent, this cannot be attributed solely to any ‘Chinese business model’. It is a consequence of weak local industrial capabilities, fragile social infrastructure and a liberal policy environment not conducive to the creation of domestic backward linkages in Chinese-led construction projects.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 325 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I am grateful to my research assistant Sérgio António Cossa for crucial help with the data collection in Maputo. I would also like to thank Hege Merete Knutsen, Emma Mawdsley, Dan Banik, Arve Hansen and the anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on earlier drafts.

References

REFERENCES

African Forum and Network on Debt and Development. 2008. Mapping Chinese Development Assistance in Africa. Harare: AFRODAD.Google Scholar
Alden, C. 2007. China in Africa. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alden, C., Chichava, S. & Roque, P.C.. 2014. ‘China in Mozambique: caution, compromise and collaboration’, in Alden, C. & Chichava, S., eds. China and Mozambique: from comrades to capitalists. Sunnyside, South Africa: Fanele.Google Scholar
Alfaro, L., Rodríguez-Clare, A., Hanson, G.H. & Bravo-Ortega, C.. 2004. ‘Multinationals and linkages: an empirical investigation [with Comments]’, Economia 4, 2: 113–69.Google Scholar
Amendolagine, V., Boly, A., Coniglio, N.D., Prota, F. & Seric, A.. 2013. ‘FDI and local linkages in developing countries: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa’, World Development 50: 41–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anshan, L. 2007. ‘China and Africa: policy and challenges’, China Security 3, 3: 69–93.Google Scholar
Auffray, C. & Fu, X.. 2015. ‘Chinese MNEs and managerial knowledge transfer in Africa: the case of the construction sector in Ghana’, Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies 13, 4: 285–310.Google Scholar
Bräutigam, D. 2008. “Flying Geese' or ‘Hidden Dragon’ Chinese Business and African Industrial Development”, in China Returns to Africa: a rising power and a continent embrace. London: Christopher.Google Scholar
Bräutigam, D. 2011. ‘Aid ‘with Chinese characteristics’: Chinese foreign aid and development finance meet the OECD-DAC aid regime’, Journal of International Development 23, 5: 752–64.Google Scholar
Bräutigam, D. & Xiaoyang, T.. 2011. ‘African Shenzhen: China's special economic zones in Africa’, Journal of Modern African Studies 49, 1: 27–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broadman, H.G. 2008. ‘China and India go to Africa: new deals in the developing world’, Foreign Affairs 87, 2: 95–109. doi: 10.2307/20032583.Google Scholar
Buur, L. 2014. ‘The Development of Natural Resource Linkages in Mozambique: the ruling elite capture of new economic opportunities’, DIIS Working Paper 14, 3: 1–28. Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Castel-Branco, C.N. 2001. ‘An investigation into the political economy of industrial policy: the case of Mozambique.’ University of London, doctoral thesis.Google Scholar
Castel-Branco, C.N. 2008. ‘Os mega projectos em Moçambique: que contributo para a economia nacional.’ Prepared for the Fórum da Sociedade Civil para Indústria Extractiva, <http://www.iese.ac.mz/lib/noticias/Mega_Projectos_ForumITIE.pdf>>Google Scholar
Castel-Branco, C.N. 2014. ‘Growth, capital accumulation and economic porosity in Mozambique: social losses, private gains’, Review of African Political Economy 41, supp. 1: S26–48.Google Scholar
Castel-Branco, C.N., Chichava, S. & Francisco, A.. 2011. Dependência de ajuda externa, acumulacão e ownership. Maputo: IESE.Google Scholar
Centre for Chinese Studies. 2006. ‘China's Interest and Activity in Africa's Construction and Infrastructure Sectors.’ Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Stellenbosch.Google Scholar
Chen, C., Goldstein, A. & Orr, R.J.. 2009. ‘Local operations of Chinese construction firms in Africa: an empirical survey’, International Journal of Construction Management 9, 2: 75–89. doi: 10.1080/15623599.2009.10773131.Google Scholar
Cheru, F. & Obi, C., eds. 2010. ‘Introduction: Africa in the twenty first century: strategic and development challenges’, in The Rise of China and India in Africa: challenges, opportunities and critical interventions. London: Zed Books, 1–12.Google Scholar
China-DAC Study Group. 2010. ‘Economic transformation and poverty reduction. How it happened in China, helping it happen in Africa.’ Synthesis report. Beijing: IPRCC & OECD.Google Scholar
Clifford Chance. 2014. ‘New petroleum law: the future of oil and gas in Mozambique.’ Briefing note. London: Clifford Chance.Google Scholar
Coe, N.M. & Wai-Chung Yeung, H.. 2015. Global Production Networks: theorizing economic development in an interconnected world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coe, N.M, Hess, M., Wai-Chung Yeung, H., Dicken, P. & Henderson, J.. 2004. ‘‘Globalizing’ regional development: a global production networks perspective’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 29, 4: 468–84.Google Scholar
Corkin, L. 2012. ‘Chinese construction companies in Angola: a local linkages perspective’, Resources Policy 37, 4: 475–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corkin, L. 2013. Uncovering African agency: Angola's management of China's credit lines. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.Google Scholar
Crosthwaite, D. 2000. ‘The global construction market: a cross-sectional analysis’, Construction Management and Economics 18, 5: 619–27.Google Scholar
Davies, M., Edinger, H., Tay, N. & Naidu, S.. 2008. ‘How China delivers development assistance to Africa’. Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Stellenbosch.Google Scholar
Dicken, P. 2011. Global Shift: reshaping the global economic map in the 21st Century. Seventh edition. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Ellmers, B. 2011. ‘Four months until Busan aid forum and a long way from more effective aid’, <http://www.eurodad.org/Entries/view/4584/2011/07/07/Four-months-until-Busan-aid-forum-and-a-long-way-from-more-effective-aid>..>Google Scholar
Foster, V., Butterfield, W. & Chen, C.. 2009. Building bridges: China's growing role as infrastructure financier for Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications.Google Scholar
Fukuyama, F. 2004. ‘The imperative of state-building’, Journal of Democracy 15, 2: 17–31.Google Scholar
Governo de Mocambique (GoM). 2011. ‘PARP 2011–2014. Poverty reduction action plan.’ Maputo: GoM.Google Scholar
Gu, J. 2009. ‘China's private enterprises in Africa and the implications for African development’, European Journal of Development Research 21, 4: 570–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanlon, J. & Mosse, M.. 2010. ‘Mozambique's elite – finding its way in a globalized world and returning to old development models.’ Working Paper 105, UNU-Wider.Google Scholar
Hansen, M.W., Buur, L., Therkildsen, O. & Kjær, M.. 2014. ‘The political economy of local content in African extractives: lessons from three African countries.’ Paper presented at: 46, Årsmøde i Dansk Selskab for Statskundskab, okt. 23–24, 2014, Vejle, Denmark.Google Scholar
Harman, S. & Brown, W.. 2013. ‘In from the margins? The changing place of Africa in International Relations’, International Affairs 89, 1: 69–87. doi: 10.1111/1468-2346.12005.Google Scholar
Herbertson, K. 2011. ‘Leading while catching up?: Emerging standards for China's overseas investments’, Sustainable Development Law and Policy 11, 3, 7: 22–43.Google Scholar
Hirschman, A.O. 1970. The Strategy of Economic Development. Fourteenth edition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hirschman, A.O. 1981. Essays in Trespassing: economics to politics and beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Human Rights Watch. 2011. ‘‘You'll Be Fired if You Refuse’: labor abuses in Zambia's Chinese state-owned copper mines.’ Human Rights Watch.Google Scholar
Jerónimo, M.P. 2012. ‘Business Plan: uma empresa portuguesa do setor de construção no mercado moçambicano.’ Master Dissertation, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.Google Scholar
Jones, S. & Tarp, F.. 2012. ‘Jobs and welfare in Mozambique: country case study for the 2013 World Development Report.’ World Development Report Background Paper.Google Scholar
Keet, D. 2010. ‘South–South strategic bases for Africa to engage China’, in Cheru, F. & Obi, C., eds. The rise of China and India in Africa: challenges, opportunities and critical interventions. London: Zed Books, 21–33.Google Scholar
Knack, S. & Smets, L.. 2013. ‘Aid tying and donor fragmentation’, World Development 44: 63–76.Google Scholar
Kragelund, P. 2009. ‘Knocking on a wide-open door: Chinese investments in Africa’, Review of African Political Economy 36, 122: 479–97.Google Scholar
Kragelund, P. 2010. ‘The price of “openness”: towards Chinese economic control in Zambia’, in Cheru, F. & Obi, C., eds. The Rise of China and India in Africa: challenges, opportunities and critical interventions. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Krause, M. & Kaufmann, F.. 2011. Industrial Policy in Mozambique. Bonn: German Development Institute.Google Scholar
Lean, C.S. 2001. ‘Empirical tests to discern linkages between construction and other economic sectors in Singapore’, Construction Management and Economics 19, 4: 355–363.Google Scholar
Lewis, T.M. 2007. ‘Impact of globalization on the construction sector in developing countries’, Construction Management and Economics 25, 1: 7–23.Google Scholar
Lin, J.Y. & Wang, Y.. 2015. ‘China's Development cooperation: ideas, opportunities and finances.’ Working Paper. Clermont-Ferrand: FerDi.Google Scholar
Lopes, M.A.R.F. 2007. ‘Desafios e mudanças nas empresas de construção civil e as relações de trabalho’, Cadernos de Estudos Africanos 11/12: 221–36.Google Scholar
Maugeri, N., Nhabinde, V. & Quintella, R.. 2015. Estudo de base para a elaboração de políticas e estratégias de desenvolvimento da indústria de construção e materiais de construção em Moçambique. London: International Growth Center.Google Scholar
Mawdsley, E. 2012. From recipients to donors – emerging powers and the changing development landscape. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Mlinga, R.S. & Wells, J.. 2002. ‘Collaboration between formal and informal enterprises in the construction sector in Tanzania’, Habitat International 26, 2: 269–80. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0197-3975(01)00048-0.Google Scholar
Mold, A. 2012. ‘Will it all end in tears? Infrastructure spending and African development in historical perspective’, Journal of International Development 24, 2: 237–54.Google Scholar
Morris, M., Kaplinsky, R. & Kaplan, D.. 2012. One Thing Leads to Another: promoting industrialisation by making the most of the commodity boom in Sub-Saharan Africa. Raleigh, NC: LULU Press.Google Scholar
Morrissey, O. 2012. ‘FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa: few linkages, fewer spillovers’, European Journal of Development Research 24, 1: 26–31.Google Scholar
Njoh, A.J. 2000. ‘Transportation infrastructure and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa’, Public Works Management and Policy 4, 4: 286–96.Google Scholar
Ofori, G. 1990. The Construction Industry: aspects of its economics and management. Singapore: NUS Press.Google Scholar
Ofori, G. 2000a. ‘Challenges of construction industries in developing countries: lessons from various countries.’ 2nd International Conference on Construction in Developing Countries: Challenges Facing the Construction Industry in Developing Countries, Gaborone, November.Google Scholar
Ofori, G. 2000b. ‘Globalization and construction industry development: research opportunities’, Construction Management and Economics 18, 3: 257–62.Google Scholar
Ofori, G. 2003. ‘Frameworks for analysing international construction’, Construction Management and Economics 21, 4: 379–91.Google Scholar
Oya, C. 2006. ‘The political economy of development aid as main source of foreign finance for poor African countries: loss of policy space and possible alternatives from East Asia.’ Second Annual Comference of the International Forum on the Comparative Political Economy of Globalization, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 1–3 September 2006.Google Scholar
Oya, C. 2008. ‘Greater Africa-China economic cooperation: will this widen ‘policy space’?’, Development Viewpoint 4, June 2008.Google Scholar
Pannell, C.W. 2008. ‘China's economic and political penetration in Africa’, Eurasian Geography and Economics 49, 6: 706–30.Google Scholar
Patton, M.Q. 2002. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Third edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Polenske, K.R. & Sivitanides, P.. 1990. ‘Linkages in the construction sector’, Annals of Regional Science 24, 2: 147–61.Google Scholar
Schou, S. & Cardoso, J.. 2014. ‘How many manufacturing firms are there in Mozambique?’ WIDER Working Paper.Google Scholar
UNCTAD. 2012. ‘Investment Policy Review. Mozambique.’ UNCTAD/DIAE/PCB/2012/1, United Nations Publication.Google Scholar
UNDP. 2015. ‘If Africa builds nests, will the birds come? Comparative Study on Special Economic Zones in Africa and China.’ Working Paper Series. Beijing: UNDP & IPRCC.Google Scholar
USAID. 2013. ‘Policy options for strengthening local content in Mozambique’, in Mozambique Support Program for Economic and Enterprise Development (SPEED). Maputo: United States Agency for International Development.Google Scholar
Vines, A. 2007. ‘China in Africa: a mixed blessing?’, Current History 106, 700: 213–19.Google Scholar
Wang, C. & Flam, D.. 2007. ‘Bridging the gap: Experiences and attitudes in Sino-African relations.’ China Rights Forum, <http://www.hrichina.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/CRF.2.2007/CRF-2007-2_Sino-African.pdf>>Google Scholar
Wells, J. 1984. ‘The construction industry in the context of development: a new perspective’, Habitat International 8, 3: 9–28.Google Scholar
Wethal, U. 2017a. ‘Workplace regimes in Sino-Mozambican construction projects: resentment and tension in a divided workplace’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies 35, 3: 383–403. doi: 10.1080/02589001.2017.1323379.Google Scholar
Wethal, U. 2017b. ‘Passive Hosts or Demanding Stakeholders? Understanding Mozambique's Negotiating Power in the Face of China’, Forum for Development Studies 44, 3: 493–516. doi: 10.1080/08039410.2017.1317660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitfield, L. & Buur, L.. 2014. ‘The politics of industrial policy: ruling elites and their alliances.’ Third World Quarterly 35, 1: 126–44.Google Scholar
World Bank. 1984. The Construction Industry: issues and strategies in developing countries. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2009. ‘Mozambique – CEM – construction sector – Draft.’ World Bank.Google Scholar
Yi-Chong, X. 2014. ‘Chinese state-owned enterprises in Africa: ambassadors or freebooters?’, Journal of Contemporary China 23, 89: 822–40. doi: 10.1080/10670564.2014.882542.Google Scholar
Zawdie, G. & Murray, M.. 2013. ‘The role of construction and infrastructure development in the mitigation of poverty and disaster vulnerability in developing countries’, in Murray, M. & Dainty, A., eds. Corporate Social Responsibility in the Construction Industry. London: Routledge, 73–97.Google Scholar
Zhang, C. & Gutman, J.. 2015. ‘Aid procurement and the development of local industry: a question for Africa.’ Brookings Global Economy and Development Working Paper 88.Google Scholar