A profile of the operations of Chinese multinationals in Africa

Abstract

Chinese MNCs in perspective Perhaps the first and most important point to make is that Chinese MNCs are, in many respects, like other state-owned MNCs operating in Africa, for example France's Elf-Aquitaine or South Africa's Eskom. In the French case, Elf-Aquitaine has been highly politicised, building upon or even defining France's Africa policy in particular countries such as Gabon and Angola. The close proximity between French business and political interests, manifested by the presence of oil company executives in the inner circle at the Elysee Palace as well as the circulation of key political elites such as Jean-Christophe Mitterrand within political and business circles, has been a feature of France's post-independence Africa policy from the outset. 2 Moreover, the modus operandi of foreign policy makers in Paris has been to construct policy around a network of personal relationships with individual African leaders, bolstered by a web of bilateral agreements in trade, finance, development assistance and defence. 3 The result has been, much to the dismay of many in France, a convergence between the interests of the oil company, the national armaments industry and the government's development policy that has led to, in its worst manifestations, French troops being sent into African countries to quell popular uprisings against local dictators. 4 Much of the thrust of the seemingly perennial efforts at reform of France's Africa policy has been aimed, with limited success, at untangling this complex set of relations with the continent. South Africa's parastatal, Eskom, represents another form of MNC in Africa whose strategy and operations blend national concerns with those of the continent's major power supplier. The convergence between South African economic interests surrounding the hydroelectric potential of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which Eskom seeks to exploit as South Africa searches for new power sources, has played a major part in Pretoria's foreign policy calculations towards that country. 5 According to Daniel and Lutchman: It is little wonder then that the South African government has committed so much in the way of time and effort, as well as military peacekeepers, to the task of bringing political stability to the DRC and to ending the endemic conflict in particularly the eastern region (Ituri) of the country. 6

The New Presence of China in Africa

“…Regardless of their origin, these resource extraction activities often fail to benefit the population at large (UNCTAD, 2005), and, like its Western counterparts, large-scale, state-owned Chinese companies have also recently initiated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies to minimize the negative effects of the investments (or maximize the positive ones) (Lungu and Mulenga, 2005;Oxford Analytica, 2008). Moreover, these companies' close linkage to the strategic interest of their home state is also mirrored in Western companies' oil investments (Alden and Davies, 2006). Regarding central parameters, therefore, Chinese investments do not differ radically from other foreign investments in Africa.…”

China-Africa Cooperation in the 21st Century: Analysis of the Obstacles and Challenges to Good Cooperation

“…Being engaged in constructive exchange, Africa simply needs to redefine the rules of the game to make it more amenable and less threatening to its own interests (Rocha, 2008: 55). For example, in South Africa, Chinese investments are "the product of lengthy and detailed negotiations that-apparently unlike some deals struck in other African settingsare framed in terms which conform to international legal norms and responsibilities" (Alden and Davis, 2006). Due to limited cross-cultural communication, there seems to be lack of collaboration between the Chinese and African employees.…”

China's 'Steel Hunger': A Comparative Analysis of SOE and NSOE Internationalization Motivations and Attitudes towards Risk

“…Researchers have increasingly drawn attention to the significant presence of Chinese mining firms in Africa that have interests in Sudan, Angola, Nigeria, Niger, and the Congo (Alden & Davies, 2006;Chuan & Orr, 2009;Ericsson, 2010;Gu, 2009;Haglund, 2008;Naidu & Davies, 2006;Naidu & Mbazima, 2008;Shen, 2013; Contemporary Management Research 331 Tull, 2006;Zafar, 2007). Figure 1 With the exception of Canada and Australia, many of these are perceived as 'high risk' locations.…”