ICT Aid Flows From China to African Countries: A Communication Network Perspective

Authors

  • Rong Wang University of Kentucky
  • François Bar University of Southern California
  • Yu Hong Zhejiang University

Keywords:

foreign aid, ICT, network analysis, China, Africa, telecommunication, ERGM, Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

The challenge in evaluating China’s foreign aid has always been the unavailability of reliable data sets. This study constitutes the first analysis of the AidData data set from a communication network perspective. It examines China’s development aid to Africa in the ICT sector from 2000 to 2014. Combining data mapping, network modeling, and regression, it uncovers general trends of aid allocation, central players, and collaboration patterns among aid agencies. The results demonstrate the variability in the distribution of China’s foreign assistance to 44 African countries. In particular, African countries with less population, worse economic development, but higher oil rents are more likely to receive ICT aid from China. This study also finds that aid implementation is less likely to occur through collaboration within the same sector or between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies. This research reveals nuanced geometries of aid with “Chinese characteristics” that move beyond the extractive “Angola model” or the mutual benefits model. These findings provide implications on how Chinese telecommunication companies are shaping Africa’s digital future.

Author Biographies

Rong Wang, University of Kentucky

Rong Wang is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication at the University of Kentucky. Her research area focuses at the intersections of technology, networks and social impact. 

François Bar, University of Southern California

François Bar (University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D.) is Professor of Communication and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California. He serves on the Annenberg Innovation Lab research council and is a steering committee member of the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication. His research and teaching explore the social and economic impacts of information technologies, with a specific focus on telecommunication policy, user-driven innovation and technology appropriation. His most recent work examines the potential of information technology for economic, social and cultural development, in places ranging from East Africa to Latin America and South Los Angeles. He is co-Editor in Chief of Information Technologies and International Development (ITID). 

Yu Hong, Zhejiang University

Yu Hong (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D.) is a Professor at Zhejiang University, College of Media and International Culture. Yu Hong serves as the Book Review Editor for Global Media and Communication from 2016 and joins the Editorial Advisory Board for Chinese Journal of Communication from 2018. And in 2017 she was elected member of the executive board for the Global Communication and Social Change division within the International Communication Association. Her research focuses on ICT development, Internet and media policy, and digital capitalism, with a regional focus on China.

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Published

2020-02-24

Issue

Vol. 14 (2020)

Section

Articles

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