Yabo Wu is a PhD candidate at Maastricht University in the Globalization, Transnationalism and Development research group. Her current research project, Shaping the Firm as A Development Role: The Case of Chinese Businesses in Kenya, investigates the multifaceted activities of the Chinese state and diverse Chinese firms in Kenya.
Yabo’s project – titled The Multi-Layered of Embeddedness of Chinese Technology Firms in Kenyan Digital Development – investigates the role of Chinese technology firms for digital transformation in Africa, with a particular focus on comparatively analyzing two distinct cases: a large private technology firm receiving financial support from the Chinese state, and a small technology firm independently of such support. These two cases also represent the multi-layered embeddedness of Chinese technology firms in Kenyan digital transformation, from mega government digital infrastructures to community-level digital networks. Through these cases, she aims to elaborate on how these firms, as transnational corporate actors from China, situated in the intricate political-social context of Kenya to operate, contribute to Kenya’s digital development, and also meet constraints on assisting Kenya to achieve sustainable development in digital space.