TITLE:
A Study Exploring the Belt and Road Initiative and the Impact on the Cultural Differences in Africa Cooperative Countries
AUTHORS:
Lyatamila Ndyali
KEYWORDS:
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Outward Foreign Direct Investment Models (OFDI), Cultural Factors, Oversea Investment and Economic Development
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.15 No.2,
February
29,
2024
ABSTRACT: Africa is the fastest economic growing continent in
the world and the most diverse continent, however different part from the
cardinal may experience different cultural dimension, belief and values; and
how they emphasize on the importance of foreign investment. This paper overlooks the relationship built between China and African
countries. Given that China attaches great importance to the Belt and Road
Initiative and the expanding scale of outbound investment, this paper explores
the impact of cultural factors on the choices of outbound investment models by
Chinese enterprises. There so, the paper has selected countries from a four
cardinal directions representatives: Egypt (Northern Africa); Ghana (Western
Africa); Kenya (Eastern Africa) and South Africa (Southern Africa). The
methodology in this study includes phenomenological method with comparative
analysis by using the Hofstede’s culture dimension indicator and the data of
Chinese OFDI flows and stocks in 2020. This study interprets the meaning of
experiences of human life. The analysis of the main investment patterns of
Chinese companies and the four representative countries shows that the cultural
dimension has a greater influence on the choice of investment patterns, while
the influence of the masculinity dimension is weaker. For countries with different
cultural dimensional relationships, Chinese companies are more willing to
invest in a way that has low cultural adaptation costs to facilitate the smooth
implementation of investment. This paper has also incorporated a new culture dimension of self identity
and awareness (Confucianism culture and Ubuntu culture as a dimension that have
to be explored more,
furthermore the author calls upon the revival of understanding the Ubuntu
culture dimension that represents Africa have which was lost to be explored
thoroughly from theoretical and policy contribution so as to understand African
states values and norms originality. The study also puts out suggestions for
smoother cooperation among Chinese direct investment in the BRI countries in
Africa from the perspectives of enterprises and the government.