Showing papers by "Deborah Bräutigam published in 2019"
TL;DR: This paper analyzed Chinese hydropower engagement based on a new, verified dataset and demonstrated that Chinese engagement is often overestimated in both numbers and value, and that misunderstanding and myths abound regarding Chinese financing and construction practices.
Abstract: Recent acceleration of Chinese engagement in African hydropower is attracting increasing attention and concern. Yet there is scant research and little reliable data on this engagement. This paper analyzes Chinese hydropower engagement based on a new, verified dataset. We examined over 100 projects reported by the media and lists compiled by other organizations, amassing case studies for each project using desk research, interviews, and field visits. We demonstrate that Chinese engagement in African hydropower is often overestimated in both numbers and value. Further, misunderstanding and myths abound regarding Chinese financing and construction practices. This evidence-based understanding provides a firmer foundation for advocacy, research, and efforts by other companies and funding agencies to cooperate with Chinese actors in this controversial sector.
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20 citations
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: The authors in this article used a process-tracing methodology to examine how, at the critical juncture of Mauritius independence, coalitions for development was formed, and how it was sustained through being embedded into formal and informal institutions with the trust and support of the public and private sectors.
Abstract: Few countries in the developing world have solved the puzzle of governing for broad-based prosperity. Mauritius is an exception—the country has earned its status as a development ‘superstar.’ A skillful mix of policies encouraged competition while taking advantage of trade preferences. Leaders were accountable for performance to domestic constituents, continually experimenting, learning, and adapting. They respected and strengthened key governance institutions: skilled bureaucracy, an independent judiciary, a free press, an inclusive electoral system, and social democracy were combined with managed capitalism. This chapter uses a process-tracing methodology to examine how, at the critical juncture of Mauritius independence, when the country needed to unify or sink, coalitions for development was formed, and how it was sustained through being embedded into formal and informal institutions with the trust and support of the public and private sectors.
11 citations
15 Apr 2019
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored Chinese loan finance in Africa and its relevance for Africa's economic modernization and structural transformation between 1960 and 2016, focusing on the modalities of structuring loan finance and providing guarantees of repayment in risky environments.
Abstract: This chapter explores Chinese loan finance in Africa and its relevance for Africa’s economic modernization and structural transformation between 1960 and 2016. Drawing on an original database of Chinese loan finance China–Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS-CARI), the chapter begins by outlining the changing actors involved in lending from China and the different kinds of loan instrument. It then examines the sectors in which Chinese lending clusters, shedding light on the degree to which African borrowers use these loans directly or indirectly to support structural transformation projects in industrialization and agro-finance, and related infrastructure. The chapter pays special attention to the modalities of structuring loan finance and providing guarantees of repayment in risky environments when many countries have only recently emerged from a long debt crisis. Finally, it considers concern over rising debt levels in a number of African countries.
6 citations