ABSTRACT
This section tests the implications of the argument using both quantitative and qualitative data. Four African cases are examined – Nigeria (analyzed in depth in Chapter 4), Angola (Chapter 5), Sudan (Chapter 6), and Tunisia (Chapter 7) – providing results within one region of the world. Each chapter contains a background part and then presents the respective empirical expectations regarding expected behavior and examines whether they find support in the individual cases. The quantitative component takes the shape of a content analysis of Chinese language materials. The qualitative analysis focuses on case studies of certain key decisions, including particular acquisitions. Nigeria is a country of high strategic importance to China and with a large amount of oil. Based on these characteristics and the history of the case, the hypothesis is that both economic and state interests will dominate in Nigeria. This empirical expectation is supported by the qualitative results, as there is evidence of equal consideration of state and economic interests in the key decisions examined. In contrast, the quantitative analysis reveals a dominance of economic interests over the course of the decade examined (2002–2012). Looking more closely at the case of the large oil-for-infrastructure agreement between China and Nigeria that occurred in 2006–07, the evidence that state and economic interests coincide is more credible, which means that the qualitative and quantitative analyses are in overall agreement. As the quantitative and qualitative analyses both produce evidence of state and economic interests, the empirical expectation stated earlier is supported.
