Will the World Banks Vision Materialize? Relocating China`s Factories to Sub-Saharan Africa, Flying-Geese Style

China has emerged as the most proactive partner for Africa's growth by offering economic
aid, investing in development projects in resource extraction and infrastructure building, and expanding
trade. In this regard, a number of studies have recently explored China's growing yet
still nascent manufacturing investments in sub-Saharan Africa, which the World Bank hopes
to see further expanded so as to ignite local industrialization. These studies look mainly at the
Africa-side (host) conditions. In contrast, this paper stresses China-side (home) factors and examines
the institutional issues involved in this hoped-for scheme of industrial transplantation. The
central question addressed is whether the World Bank's wish will actually come true. China's potential
in this scenario is assessed in terms of the flying-geese growth model that explains how
comparatively disadvantaged industries in such a rapidly catching-up economy as China's may be
transplanted overseas. This article concludes that at the moment, China's capacity to transform the
sub-Saharan region into a vibrant manufacturing base via foreign direct investment (FDI) is still
underdeveloped and quite limited.