Examining Chinese Soft Power in the Ethiopian Telecom Industry: Toward an Alternative Model of Financing?

• In Event: Power, Resistance, Professonalism, and Internationalization in China's Media Industries

Abstract

Since its inception in 1894, Ethiopia’s telecommunications sector has been characterized by a vertically integrated market run by a state-owned enterprise outside the realm of competition. Although the monopolistic model still persists, the Ethiopian government has awarded multi-billion dollar contracts to Chinese telecommunications multinationals ZTE and Huawei in the last decade. Based on analysis of interviews, this article explores the rationales and implications of Sino-Ethiopian partnerships in the Ethiopian telecommunications sector from a critical political economy perspective.

Author

• Tewodros Workalemahu Workneh, Kent State University