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At Africa's Expense? Disaggregating the Social Impact of Chinese Mining Operations

Author

Listed:
  • Wegenast, Tim
  • Strüver, Georg
  • Giesen, Juliane
  • Krauser, Mario
Abstract
Qualitative studies and media reports suggest that the presence of Chinese oil or mining companies generates resentments among local extractive communities due to low wages, poor working conditions, environmental degradation, the employment of foreign labour, and perceived racial discrimination. At the same time, Chinese investment in the extractive sector appears to enhance local infrastructure. So far, these claims have not been empirically tested in a systematic way. Relying on novel data on the control-rights regimes of diamond, gold, and copper mines and geo-referenced information from Afrobarometer surveys, this paper examines whether Chinese-controlled mining promotes anti-Chinese sentiments among the local populations of sub-Saharan African countries. In addition, we test the effect of mining contractors' nationality on socio-economic indicators such as local employment rates and infrastructure levels. Our logistic regression analysis for the period 1997-2014 reveals that the effect of Chinese mining companies on African local development is ambiguous: while proximity to Chinese-operated mines is associated with anti-Chinese sentiments and unemployment, populations living close to Chinese mining areas enjoy better infrastructure, such as paved roads or piped water. Multilevel mixed-effects estimations using district-level data from the Demographic Health Survey for 20 sub-Saharan countries corroborate these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Wegenast, Tim & Strüver, Georg & Giesen, Juliane & Krauser, Mario, 2017. "At Africa's Expense? Disaggregating the Social Impact of Chinese Mining Operations," GIGA Working Papers 308, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:gigawp:308
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Magnus Ericsson & Olof Löf & Anton Löf, 2020. "Chinese control over African and global mining—past, present and future," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 33(1), pages 153-181, July.
    3. Hagan Sibiri, 2021. "The Emerging Phenomenon of Anti-Chinese Populism in Africa: Evidence from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ghana," Insight on Africa, , vol. 13(1), pages 7-27, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    natural resources; Africa; China; mining; unemployment; infrastructure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q34 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Natural Resources and Domestic and International Conflicts
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • L72 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Mining, Extraction, and Refining: Other Nonrenewable Resources
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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