Industrial upgrading in sub-Sahara Africa: the competitive impact of China on supplier linkage development potentials of resident Asian entrepreneurs

This paper argues that the emergent profile of China as a top global exporter of apparel input material is undermining the spill-over potentials of Asian direct investment in apparel production abroad. The experience of sub-Saharan Africa is presented as an illustration of this claim. Insights from the GVC literature are used to show that Asian investors in Lesotho's apparel manufacturing business rely principally on China for their input supplies. As a result of this, the incidence of Asian entrepreneurship in the country's apparel sector is revealed to be associated with significant negative impact on supplier linkage development. Measures to promote local supplier development as well as improve the quality of service deliveries in key infrastructural areas are put forward as interventions needed to encourage firms to look inward for their supply needs.