Author: , .

There is widespread economic and political interest in the impact of Chinese investment in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper distinguishes between four different types of Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI), primarily focusing on SSA’s engagement with large state-owned Chinese firms investing in SSA’s resource and infrastructure sectors. Although there is a paucity of published research, it also provides evidence on private Chinese FDI in wholesale/retail, manufacturing, and services. The available evidence drawn from a variety of sources –macro, micro, firm surveys and country reports– on the extent of different types of Chinese investment is discussed. The distinctive character of large-scale state-owned Chinese investors is summed up in the bundling together of aid, trade and FDI, in contrast to traditional western trends which seek to unbundle these factors. The paper concludes that SSA countries should maximise the opportunities opened to them by their resource-base by adopting a similarly integrated and focused response to Chinese (and other large) investors who seek to draw on the continent’s natural resources.