Abstract
China’s increasing role in many African economies has given rise to discussions about the drivers of these economic relations and the benefits that Africa can reap. This article, based on field work carried out in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), aims to contribute to this discussion by shedding light on a group that is often overlooked: the Chinese small entrepreneurs. Our investigation of five specific economic linkages shows how Chinese entrepreneurs mainly operate in secluded market segments, but also are impactful players in the local economy of Bole Rwanda (Addis Ababa). Their presence has both direct and indirect economic effects: even though focusing mainly on serving the Chinese community, these entrepreneurs play important roles in employment generation, and the transfer of knowledge of particular markets, while simultaneously offering new opportunities for Ethiopian entrepreneurs and transforming the existing vegetable market. The dragon helped the lion to breathe fire—the challenge is to make it a far-reaching and long-lasting breath.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1127–1148 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | European Journal of Development Research |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 27 Oct 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022, The Author(s).
Funding
We would like to give special thanks to Ebru Uçan for her assistance during the period of data collection for this study. Her role as translator enabled us to retrieve the data we needed for this study. Besides her adept professional translation skills, her involvement with the study and feedback are also highly appreciated. We also thank the participants of the Interdisciplinary European Conference on Entrepreneurship Research 2019 in Utrecht for their constructive feedback.
Keywords
- Addis Ababa
- Chinese entrepreneurs
- Local economy
- Local linkages
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- Sub-Saharan Africa
