Suchergebnisse

In the last decade or so China has re-emerged as an important actor in the international development cooperation arena at a time when development cooperation was undergoing reflection and critical revaluations in many traditional donor countries. The academic and policy debate on China's re-emergence as a donor has been divided between proponents who saw a new hope for the developing world, where lessons for the developing world could be drawn. Opponents or critics, on the other hand, posed a critical stand against Chinas non-adherence to the common standards, principles and practices of traditional donors considered fruits of decades long international development experience. However, despite a myriad of publications on China international development policy and practice, much is still needed to fully grasp its architecture. How is it developed? What motivates it? How's does China conceptualize foreign aid? Does it draw from its own experience as an aid recipient and as a developing country? What are some of the practical implications of Chinese foreign aid? This thesis seeks to answer these questions by drawing heavily on Chinese sources, bringing together various complementary literatures supported by field research in Uganda, a developing country and recipient of Chinese foreign aid and investment and a trade partner. Although, various complementary analytical frameworks were used, the binding concept revolves around the role interaction of the domestic and international forces in shaping Chinas foreign aid policy and practices. This contributes to the literature on Chinese foreign aid by filling the gap in the literature on how domestic political forces and their interaction with the international context shape Chinese foreign aid policy and practices. This will be useful when analyzing future trends as the composition and interaction of domestic political forces change, and situations in international context develop.

China has been engaged with Africa since the 1956. Following the domestic economic reforms of 1978, politically and ideologically motivated engagement gave way to economically and commercially driven cooperation. Successive waves of reforms in China have made the engagement more economically and commercially driven. Initially China's engagement with Africa in general was dominated by China's state-owned enterprises. More recently private enterprises have entered the arena. In discussions on China–Africa, China is often presented as a single actor. In fact, there are many 'Chinas' in Africa. More nuanced literature has disaggregated 'China' in Africa into different actors. With regard to China's economic cooperation, the literature has either focused on its state-owned enterprises or the impacts of its commercial relations on local African business and populations. This paper intends to contribute to the growing literature on Chinese private enterprises in Africa. It provides a characterization of Chinese private companies in Kampala, Uganda, based on a recent survey of 42 Chinese enterprises there. It will present the data, analysis and stories of how and when they came, what problems they encountered and how these were solved based on the in-depth interviews that were carried out. The paper will show that many of these companies are relatively small, recent entrants in Uganda, motivated by the potential of the markets and increasingly facing problems with the authorities concerning their visas and work permits. It will be concluded that life for these private enterprises in Uganda is becoming gradually more difficult. There will be a shaking out of the companies that do not provide positive contributions to the local economy and society in general. This leaves many, especially smaller, Chinese private entrepreneurs uncertain about their future in Uganda.