https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2596-9582
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Abstract
This article investigates negotiations between Ethiopian actors and Chinese actors in the Ethiopian infrastructure sector. In contrast with predominant narratives reducing the agency of African actors at the state level, it is argued that both Ethiopian state and nonstate actors have been able to pursue their interests before, during, and after the implementation of infrastructure projects. To establish this point, the negotiation strategies of four sets of Ethiopian actors – federal actors, bureaucrats, local business owners and local workers – are analysed. Albeit with differences in the immediate effectiveness of their actions, the article sheds light on how this diversified group of actors shape the outcome of this engagement through different modalities that are defined as non-compliance, cooperation and opposition.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on a prior version of this paper. The author alone is responsible for any omissions or deficiencies.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 See, for example, Oqubay and Lin (Citation2019), Corkin (Citation2016), Mohan and Lampert (Citation2013) and Phillips (Citation2019).
2 See Mohan and Lampert (Citation2015); Driessen (Citation2019).
3 Data for the analysis came primarily from the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance (MOFEC), and the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). I also retrieved data from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ethiopian National Bureau of Statistics. Often, I triangulated data using the SAIS-CARI database of Johns Hopkins University.
4 In Wight’s conceptualisation, Agency 1 denotes the ability to act at the intersubjective level. It includes three necessary elements: accountability, intentionality and subjectivity. Agency 2 sets the individual in a broader context. It refers to ‘the socio-cultural system in which persons are born and develop’. Within this socio-cultural system, individuals are not ‘part of the whole’ but agents within certain groups. Agency 3 depends on the role agents play in the society as a whole. In other words, agents deliberate and make a judgement in order to fulfil a function that persists over time.
5 Interview with senior official of China’s embassy in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, September 2018.
6 Interview with a Chinese company’s manager, Addis Ababa, September 2018.
7 The World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Citation2019 debt-sustainability analysis postulated that Ethiopia’s external debt situation could become too difficult to service in the medium term.
8 Interview with senior official at Debt Department at MoFEC, Addis Ababa, September 2018.
9 The debt restructuring included the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway project, the Gilgel Gibe III Dam, the Omo Kuraz Sugar Factory and the GERD Dedessa–Holeta power transmission project.
10 Interview with senior official at Debt Department at MoFEC, Addis Ababa, September 2018.
11 The federal government comprises nine autonomous regions plus Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa (cities administered by the federal state) (first level); zones (second level); woredas, or district authorities (third level); and kebeles.
12 Interview with a senior official at MOFEC, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
13 A MoFEC senior official confirms that parties also agreed the Addis Ababa water and sewerage authority would be the end user and that the CGC Overseas Construction Group (CGCOC) would be the Chinese contractor.
14 Interview with an official of the Oromia regional state office, Addis Ababa, October 2019.
15 Interview with a senior official at MOFEC, Addis Ababa, October 2019.
16 Interview with an official of the Oromia regional state office, Addis Ababa, October 2019.
17 Interview with an official of the Oromia regional state office, Addis Ababa, October 2019.
18 The ever-rising tensions between ethnic groups resulted in violent conflict between the federal government and local armed forces in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region in 2020. Conflict and political instability have adversely impacted Chinese firms’ profitability, their employees’ personal safety, and the safety of the infrastructure assets, with wider implications for the relationship between China and Ethiopia and for the country’s development process. For an overview of the complexity surrounding Sino–Ethiopian relations during the ongoing conflict, see Calabrese, Huang and Nadin (Citation2021).
19 Interview with Ethiopian company manager, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
20 Interview with Ethiopian company managers, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
21 Interview with CCAE manager, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
22 Interview with CCAE manager, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
23 Interview with Ethiopian company manager, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
24 Interview with CCAE manager, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
25 Interview with Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs official, Addis Ababa, September 2018.
26 The Chinese SOE (State-Owned Enterprise) CGCOC and the ERA (Ethiopian Roads Authority) signed the upgrading project contract on 4 May 2014 for a total value of US$259 million. A loan from CHEXIM financed 85% of the project.
27 Interview with Ethiopian manager of CGCOC, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
28 Interview with Chinese manager, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
29 Interview with Ethiopian manager, Addis Ababa, October 2018.
30 The Ethiopian constitution defines the creation of three levels of state courts: the state supreme court, high courts, and first instance courts (or woreda courts).
Additional information
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Valeria Lauria
Valeria Lauria is currently Boya Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Peking University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of international relations and international political economy, with a particular focus on development financing and the rise of China in the global context. She received her PhD from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and the International Institute of Social Studies. She holds an MSc in social policy and development from the London School of Economics and an MA in international relations from the University of Roma Tre in Italy. During her PhD studies, she held visiting positions at the Tsinghua University in China and the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. She has published on issues of global politics and international development in Public Administration and Development and Third World Quarterly.