A new approach? : the impact of China's development aid on Kenya

Abstract

Kenya has increasingly been the focus of China's development assistance over the last decade. Thus, the country has received billions of dollars worth of aid from China to develop industries, expand infrastructure and encourage trade. Indeed, 'China's approach' to development assistance, as it has been termed, has been welcomed by the Kenyan government because it is viewed as a means to help the country improve its dire social and economic standing. However, the consequences have yet to be studied and the negative impact of China's approach has yet to be analyzed. As a result, the objectives this thesis include empirically establishing the implications of China's approach to official development assistance, merging trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and bilateral assistance, is having on Kenya. This thesis utilized a variety of complimentary methodological approaches in order to ascertain the implications of China's approach. The evidence to support this qualitative thesis is based on both primary and secondary sources. Throughout this thesis, I will argue that current trends all point to China's economic and geo-strategic needs rather than Kenya's developmental needs.