The Political Economy of Chinese <scp>FDI</scp> and Spillover Effects in Africa. KopińskiD, CarmodyP  <i>and</i>  TaylorI  <i>(eds)</i> . International Political Economy Series. Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland, 2023, pp. xiii + 272. <scp>ISBN</scp

Recent decades have witnessed significant growth in the field of China-Africa/Africa-China studies, reflecting a broader shift of intellectual and analytical focus from North-South to South-South relations. This vibrant field explores dynamic linkages and transnational flows within the Global South, drawing from international relations, political science, sociology, geography, anthropology, among others. The intense focus on China-Africa relations however risks reinforcing the notion of ‘China exceptionalism’, which limits a broader comparative understanding of foreign activities in Africa. In response, a growing body of literature has employed a comparative approach to explore the varieties of capital across different African contexts, which sheds light on both the universal and unique characteristics of Chinese investment in Africa. In addition, earlier research, often criticized for a bias towards China's perspective that depicted African countries as passive recipients of aid, loan and investment, has moved towards a greater attention to African agency from elite negotiations to grassroots initiatives. These studies interrogate the simplistic hemispheric view or the mere celebration of South-South solidarity, instead exploring diverse political economies, socio-cultural forces, and individual aspirations that shape the real-world dynamics of China-Africa/Africa-China encounters. The Political Economy of Chinese FDI and Spillover Effects in Africa has made important contributions to both of the above-mentioned developments in China-Africa/Africa-China studies. While primarily focusing on Chinese FDI and its spillover effects in Africa, the book offers a comprehensive examination of the vast literature on FDI, the formation of economic linkages, and knowledge transfer that extend beyond its empirical or geographic scope. Through detailed empirical case studies of Angola and Zambia, the book explores the institutional, political-economic, and cultural dimensions of these countries, which influence the outcomes of their interactions with China. In doing so, it avoids an uncritical celebration of ‘African agency’ and instead carefully evaluates the institutional capacities and political determination necessary for exerting agency, identifying both the opportunities and challenges for spillover effects. Recent decades have seen burgeoning research on the impacts of Chinese FDI on African industrialization. However, as authors of the book contend, a comprehensive understanding of these impacts remains elusive for several reasons. Historically, as outlined in the introduction, there is a deep-seated skepticism toward foreign investment in Africa due to past problematic relationships with global capitalism. In the context of Chinese FDI, critical questions persist about whether FDI will foster knowledge transfer, under what conditions it might occur, and how such transfer could catalyze broader structural transformations across the continent. Conceptually, the debate continues over what precisely constitutes FDI and how to assess its spillover effects. Methodologically, research is often constrained by issues of data transparency, which limit the scope of quantitative analysis, while qualitative studies face challenges with generalizability. The book addresses these challenges in several ways. First, it presents a political economy analysis of FDI and spillovers in Africa, cautioning against the assumption that development automatically follows the influx of foreign capital. In Chapter 2, the authors examine the positive impacts of FDI while questioning whether African countries have the necessary preconditions to benefit from these potential gains. By exploring Hirschman's linkage concepts, the book discusses the risks and dangers when FDI fails to facilitate the formation of linkages. It advocates for a deep understanding of the nature of FDI, the types of spillovers it can generate, the essence of Chinese capital, and the roles of African stakeholders. Second, the book offers a detailed review of both macroeconomic and microeconomic literature on FDI and spillovers in Chapter 3. This review transcends the specific context of China-Africa relations to encompass broader discussions on how spillovers are defined, conceptualized, analysed, and the inconsistencies in findings concerning their relationship to FDI. It covers the direct effects of FDI, such as capital influx, employment, trade, balance of payments, and wages, as well as the indirect effects, particularly spillovers. The inconclusive nature of the FDI-spillover relationships highlights the complexity of spillover effects—the various channels through which they can occur and the factors that determine their impacts. This review places the debates around Chinese FDI within the broader scholarly understanding of FDI, thus avoiding the trap of ‘China exceptionalism’. Third, after providing a broad overview of FDI in Africa and the FDI-spillover nexus, the book focuses specifically on the Chinese FDI in Africa in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5. These chapters explore the unique challenges and opportunities presented by Chinese FDI, discussing the sectoral composition, political oversight and motivation, and technological appropriateness of Chinese investment. This analysis highlights the heterogeneity of Chinese engagement with Africa, which extends well beyond the traditional scope of FDI. It contrasts the Western approach to FDI—which typically assumes well-developed multinational corporations—with Chinese FDI, characterized mainly by smaller-scale, newly globalizing firms. Despite modest empirical evidence on linkages and spillover effects, the chapters also touch on the growing trend of mixed-methods research which combines quantitative and qualitative approaches to tackle issues of data access and transparency. Fourth, Chapters 6 through 10 feature empirical studies that explore various dimensions of Chinese spillover effects in Africa, focusing on the institutional, cultural, and political dynamics of the studied African countries, as well as the motives and operational specifics of Chinese investors. However, I notice a disconnect between the conceptual framings of the initial chapters and the empirical analyses that follow. While each empirical chapter references FDI and spillovers, there seems to be a lack of consistent conceptual framework guiding all the empirical studies. In addition, there is variation in the length and depth of discussion among the empirical chapters. In some, Chinese actors are barely mentioned, while others focus almost exclusively on them. While collectively these chapters offer a comprehensive view of Chinese FDI in the two countries studied, taken individually, they risk presenting a skewed narrative. A concluding chapter could enhance the book by summarizing the collective insights and limitations from empirical studies, discussing how these findings might inform research in other African contexts, and suggesting directions for future research. Overall, I find the book to be accessible and thorough for scholars and students to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese FDI in Africa. This book is poised to become a valuable reference for those interested in FDI, knowledge transfer, spillover effects, and the economic interactions between China and Africa.