Tim Wegenast / Georg Strüver / Juliane Giesen / Mario Krauser

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

GIGA Working Papers | 2017


  • Series

    GIGA Working Papers

    Series Number

    308

    Number of Pages

    34

    Publisher

    German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

    Location

    Hamburg

    A family in Angola balances over a narrow plank across a large Chinese construction site.
    © Reuters / Siphiwe Sibeko
    A family in Angola balances over a narrow plank across a large Chinese construction site.
    © Reuters / Siphiwe Sibeko

    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.

    Tim Wegenast

    Tim Wegenast


    Dr. Georg Strüver

    Dr. Georg Strüver

    Former GIGA Team member


    Juliane Giesen

    Juliane Giesen


    Mario Krauser

    Mario Krauser


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