Chinese national oil companies and the economic development of African oil producers

在几十年被视为“篮子"之后，一些非洲经济体正在经历世界上最快的增长率。这种增长很大程度上是基于对中国和其他新兴经济体的大宗商品出口，如石油。推动这一合作的是中国的国有石油公司，这些公司在中国的改革时期成长起来，因此具有“中国模式”的许多关键特征。虽然我们假设中国在非洲的做法与其他石油投资者“不同”，但我们不知道中国主要国家石油公司的不同企业战略以及他们参与的非洲政治经济体的特殊性是否会产生独特的发展形式，如果是这样，谁的利益？至关重要的是，将此视为中国公司完全决定议程的单向交通是错误的。我们过去的ESRC资助的研究揭示了非洲机构在塑造这种参与的条款及其发展潜力方面的重要性。就DFID-ESRC的优先事项而言，该项目涉及中国的外国直接投资，资源型增长模式和基础设施，因为许多中国石油交易与基础设施有关。该项目将是第一个评估此类发展效益是否以及如何产生的项目。我们将首先调查中国国家石油公司及其与中国主要国家和半私营机构的关系，然后在非洲进行实地研究。重要的是通过中国的国有石油公司、银行和部委在非洲进行的复杂的援助、贸易和投资“一揽子计划”。中国国家石油公司在非洲各地都很活跃，但加纳、安哥拉和苏丹这三个国家代表了它们与非洲大陆接触的不同方面。这些国家也是独特的，因此这些背景差异使我们能够研究非洲机构在塑造对其石油部门的这种新投资的性质和收益方面所发挥的作用。我们还将评估它们的影响，以及它们所产生的增长--直接、通过石油支持的基础设施、通过国家收入--在多大程度上惠及非洲最贫困人口。数据收集将是定量和定性的;前者是关于中国外国直接投资和非洲社会指标的数据集，后者是对中国和非洲主要行为者的采访。为了在以缺乏透明度著称的国家和工业部门成功地进行数据收集，我们将与在这一领域有研究记录的合作伙伴合作，并嵌入关键政策圈，以最大限度地发挥我们研究的影响。在确定这些投资流动的驱动因素，动力和影响之后，我们将满足各种知识用户的需求。一系列学科的学者将受益于对这些流动和影响的性质的新知识，以及重新思考关于国际关系性质、基于资源的发展和“南方”行为体在其中的作用的辩论。国家和国际决策者将受益于更好地了解这些与石油有关的贸易和投资流动的性质，并受益于我们提出的干预建议，这些建议可以加强这些新的商业关系的互利。国际和非洲商界人士将通过更多地了解现有的机会，以及如何在这种复杂的跨文化环境中开展业务而受益。为了实现这一目标，研究团队将提供关于中国国家石油公司和当地联系的定制培训课程。最后，公众将受益于关于非洲发展的本质以及中国等参与者的真实的成本和收益的更知情的辩论。核心团队所在的开放大学在让公众了解世界方面拥有广泛的经验，并将制作一个关于非洲石油和发展的MOOC。

After decades of being regarded as 'basket cases' some African economies are experiencing growth rates that are among the fastest in the world. Much of this growth is based on the export of commodities, like oil, to China and other emerging economies. Driving this engagement are Chinese national oil companies (NOCs) that have grown up through China's reform period and, as such, carry with them many key features of the 'China model'. While we hypothesise that the Chinese do things 'differently' to other oil investors in Africa we do not know whether the different corporate strategies of the leading Chinese NOCs and the specificities of African political economies they engage with generates unique forms of development, and if so in whose interests? Crucially it is a mistake to see this as one-way traffic with Chinese firms entirely determining the agenda. Our past ESRC-funded research reveals the importance of African agency in shaping the terms of this engagement and with it the potentials for development. In terms of DFID-ESRC's priorities the project addresses Chinese FDI, resource-based growth models, and infrastructure given that many Chinese oil deals are tied to infrastructure.This project will be the first to assess whether and how such developmental benefits may be occurring. We will start by investigating the Chinese NOCs and their relationships to key state and semi-private agencies in China, before undertaking field research in Africa. Important here are the complex 'packages' of aid, trade and investment in Africa through Chinese NOCs, banks and ministries. Chinese NOCs are active across Africa but three countries - Ghana, Angola and Sudan - represent different aspects of their engagement with the continent. These countries are also unique so these contextual differences allow us to examine the role that African agency plays in shaping the nature of and benefits from this new investment in their oil sectors. We will also assess their impacts and the extent to which the growth they generate - directly, through oil-backed infrastructure, and via state revenue - trickles down to Africa's poorest. Data collection will be both quantitative and qualitative; the former being data sets on Chinese FDI and African social indicators, and the latter interviews with key Chinese and African actors. To successfully carry out this data collection in countries and an industrial sector renowned for lacking transparency we will work with partners who have track-records of research in this area, and are embedded in key policy circles which will maximise the impact of our research.Having established the drivers, dynamics and impacts of these investment flows we will address the needs of various users of knowledge. Academics across a range of disciplines will benefit from new knowledge of the character of these flows and impacts, as well as rethinking debates on the nature of international relations, resource-based development and the role of 'Southern' actors in that. National and international policy-makers will benefit from better information about the nature of these oil-related trade and investment flows, as well as benefitting from the recommendations we make for interventions that could enhance the mutual benefits from these new business relations. International and African business people will benefit through greater knowledge of the opportunities available, but also about how to do business in such complex cross-cultural settings. To achieve this, the research team will deliver bespoke training programmes on Chinese NOCs and local linkages. Finally, the general public will benefit from better-informed debate about the nature of Africa's development, and the real costs and benefits of actors like the Chinese. The Open University, where the core team is based, has wide experience of engaging the public in learning about the world and will produce a MOOC on oil and development in Africa.