The Chinese Special Economic Zones and Foreign Direct Investment in Portuguese-Speaking African Countries

Abstract

The Portuguese-speaking African countries (PSAC) have been at the forefront of the Chinese presence in Africa. These countries have been no exception in the Chinese strategy to use Special Economic Zones (SEZ) around the globe as an effective tool to promote international trade and foreign direct investment with mainland. However, the establishment of SEZ does not necessarily warrant success in boosting investment and trade. The performance of SEZ worldwide has so far been mixed and many have not performed well for reasons such as poor site locations, uncompetitive policies and lack of differentiation, poor development practices, and bulky processes and ill-designed administrative frameworks. The authors look at two case studies of Chinese SEZ in PSAC, namely in Angola (Bengo SEZ, Luanda) and Mozambique (Manga-Mungassa SEZ, Beira), to discuss their common characteristics. The authors draw lessons on how to make Chinese SEZ in Africa work bearing in mind country-specificities.