Abstract

This chapter reviews the growth of Chinese economic activity in Uganda and presents findings from a field study involving ten Chinese industrial parks in Uganda, as well as interviews with Chinese businesses operating in that country and locals. Significant within the study is the notion of ‘Made in Uganda by China’, which has seen the country achieve import substitution in some product sets, particularly light manufacturing. The Chinese also utilise strategies involving proximity to the government (which is sometimes seen by the Chinese as being too biased towards the local workers to their detriment), along with collective cooperation through the Chamber of Commerce of Chinese Enterprises in Uganda. Local sentiment towards Chinese businesses operating in Uganda by local experts and businesses is, however, mixed, ranging from embrace to suspicion and rejection. These are also deeply intertwined with misgivings about the Ugandan government, which is seen as corrupt and benefitting in underhanded dealings with the Chinese.

Messay Mulugeta, Centre for Food Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Centre for Africa-China Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, Visiting Scholar of Fudan Development Institute.

*Full text link:

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-38395-3_8