CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Bishel, Eric |
|---|---|
| Title | Africa, China, and the Development of Digital Infrastructure Governance: A Case Study of Ghana and Tanzania |
| Summary | The development of digital infrastructure (internet equipment, cell connectivity, surveillance systems, and e-governance practices) in Africa has been accompanied by a mix of enthusiasm for its potential to promote democracy and concern about its misuse as a tool of autocracy. China in particular has been labeled an autocracy promoter for the perceived linkage between Chinese investment and aid and the usage of digital infrastructure by African regimes for authoritarian means. Some have argued that China provides more than just infrastructure; a ‘China model’ of governance, with suppression of opposition and free speech a feature, not a bug. And yet, not every country that receives large amounts of Chinese digital infrastructure investment has seen an autocratic turn. This thesis uses a comparative case study to examine Tanzania and Ghana, two countries where China has contributed or sold large amounts of infrastructure, but who have seen different political reactions to and uses of this infrastructure. It poses the question: how do we explain the differing paths these two emerging democracies take in their political utilization of unregulated digital infrastructure investment? By analyzing elections and regulation in both countries over a period of roughly 15 years, this thesis examines the role that the timing of the introduction of digital infrastructure plays in each country’s political reaction. It argues that in Tanzania, where digital infrastructure was adopted later than Ghana, country leaders perceived the internet as a threat to their hold on power and therefore internally developed a ‘normal’ standard of behavior and governance that was much less open. Ultimately, it concludes that countries combine internal concepts with outside rhetoric, both from China and the Global North, to justify their actions internationally. |
| Supervisor | Large, Daniel |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/bishel_eric.pdf |
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