Analysis of approvals for Chinese companies to invest in Africa

The lack of a comprehensive database of Chinese
investments in Africa makes it difficult to build
a picture and analyse trends and patterns. The
analysis in this working paper draws on a database
(spanning 1983 to 2010) of approvals by the
Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic
of China (MOFCOM) for Chinese companies
to engage in overseas investments. Records in the
database indicate the companies’ intent to invest
overseas, but do not record actual investments that
were completed. Additional sources are used to
characterise trends in Chinese merger and acquisition
activities in the sectors of concern in Africa.