To holistically capture the engagement patterns and dynamics of what happened in the financing and development of the wind farms, I adopt a process tracing approach. Informed by the critical realist and interpretivist paradigms, the process tracing approach entails unpacking procedures and principles undertaken to reconstruct the timeline and course of action taken along the project life cycle. The purpose is to “establish [a] causal relationship between one or more explanatory variables” (Yarhi-Milo, 2015, p. 1). This approach is time intensive and requires prolonged, systematic engagement with various stakeholders, in collecting a large amount of data on the case under reconstruction. Process tracing is employable in circumstances where the researcher has: (i) “in-depth knowledge of the cases”, (ii) “solid understanding of the general knowledge relevant to the cases”, and (iii) “strong ability to formulate a coherent argument that integrates case-specific facts and general knowledge” (Mahoney, 2015, p. 202). High-quality process tracing was made possible by my personal experiences of previously staying in Ethiopia for over ten months combined with prior
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knowledge of the two wind farms and a robust understanding of the debates around Ethiopia- China engagement. These were significant factors which led me to develop historical explanations of the case studies. Although there are several approaches to process tracing44,
I use a historical explanation which is consistent with the majority of studies in Africa-China relations (see Carbone, 2011, p. 204; Malm, 2016, p. 60). A historical explanation approach has two essential aspects: causal analysis and sequence analysis, where attention is on the “identification of causes of outcomes that have already occurred” (Mahoney, 2015, p. 202).
A historical explanation approach is useful where data is not publicly available or difficult to come by. Given that the wind energy industry is still in its infancy in Ethiopia, very few people have access to information on how the negotiations and decision-making processes were carried out. Through the interviews with Ethiopian and Chinese ministries, institutions, agencies and local communities, I obtained important information which enabled me to reconstruct sequentially the processes undertaken to develop the two wind farms. I, therefore, conducted prolonged and intensive fieldwork for nine months in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Mekelle and Adama) and an additional three days in South Africa (Johannesburg) from 17-19 December 2017. The fieldwork was divided into two phases. The first phase was from 4th
October 2017 to 31st August 2017 and the second phase was from 2nd October 2017 to 21st
January 2018. As part of the Home Office requirement an international student under the Tier 4 Visa regime is not allowed to be outside the U.K. for more than six months. This forced me to split fieldwork into two phases. Initially, I thought it was disadvantageous as I had planned an evolutionary approach to data collection which required an elongated time in the field without any break. However, it later worked to my advantage as I had one month break from the field in September 2017. The break allowed me to reflect on the content, patterns and themes of the data I had already collected.
For the entire duration of data collection, I was co-hosted by MU (see appendix 3.4; 3.5) and Addis Ababa University (AAU) (see appendix 3.6;3.7) because of personal relations I had established in my previous endeavours with the two Universities. I also had personal connections with Ethiopian bureaucrats and civil servants especially in MOWIE which helped to negotiate and gain access to some of the research participants. Regardless of the personal contacts and networks, negotiating access and developing trust with research participants was not easy at all. Most if not all research participants requested support letters or introductory letters, and fortunately, based on my previous experience of undertaking fieldwork in Ethiopia,
44 See Derek Beach & Rasmus Brun Pedersen. 2013. Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan; Joachim Blatter & Markus Haverland. 2012. Designing Case Studies: Explanatory Approaches in Small-
N Research, New York: Palgrave Macmillan; James Mahoney. 2012. "The Logic of Process Tracing Tests in the Social Sciences”.
Sociological Methods & Research; Stephen Van Evera. 1997. Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Cornell University Press.
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I had obtained the necessary supporting letters from the Open University (OU), MU (see appendix 3.4; 3.5), AAU (see appendix 3.6;3.7) and Adama City Administration. The support letters were prepared in English, Mandarin and local languages.
My first interview was on 12 May 2017 in Mekelle with the Vice President of Tigray regional state, former ambassador of Ethiopia to China, central committee and politburo member of both the TPLF and EPRDF45. Getting an appointment with him was not easy. Appointments
were set and unset several times. By persistently knocking at his door, he finally gave me the interview. Little did I know that my experience with the former ambassador resembled what would define my entire data collection process in Ethiopia. Getting appointments was a big challenge. Surprisingly, while one would expect that high-level stakeholders are difficult to set and fulfil appointments with, I realised that even low-level stakeholders behaved the same. This was also the case with Chinese stakeholders. It made me realise that basically everyone, regardless of social status either purposefully or unwittingly never took appointments seriously46.
The majority of interviews were conducted at three locations in Ethiopia: Addis Ababa where federal government agencies and institutions are located; Adama (Lome Woreda47, Adama
Woreda, Qachema, Mukiye, Sere-robi, Adama, Kobolito, Tede-dildima, Mele-mele, Jogo Gudedo, Bubisa Kusaye Kebeles48) where the two wind farms are located; and Mekelle—the
capital city of Tigray and home to TPLF. Again, MU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering participated as the consultant team leader for Adama 2 together with ASTU in Adama. Informal conversations with people in the streets in Tigray pointed to the unmeasurable role of TPLF- EPRDF in bringing about economic development and prosperity to the country, with the backing of Beijing. As such, my experiences in Tigray points to an informal consensus that development comes first, and democracy comes later— one reason to explain why China is a close development partner.
Negotiating and gaining access to research participants in Adama town had its complexities. In phase 1, I conducted interviews with medium to high-level stakeholders from Ethiopia and China in Addis Ababa and not Adama. I could not conduct interviews in Adama during phase 1 because of physical and personal security reasons49. Instead, I resorted to conducting a
45 Although I arrived in Ethiopia in April, I was not legally allowed to undertake research until a resident permit/visa was issued. 46 With reference to the research participants I invited to participate in this study. This observation does not apply to anyone outside the research environment.
47 Woreda is an Amharic word which refers to a lower local government administration unit in Ethiopia equivalent to ‘district’. 48 Kebele is an Amharic word which refers to the lowest administration unit in Ethiopia equivalent to a ‘ward’.
49 The state of emergency had been extended in Ethiopia and several places in Oromo were not safe for an outsider. Also, Sharon Gray a post-doctoral researcher was killed in Ethiopia when conducting fieldwork in October 2016. See: Nashelly Chavez & Cathy Locke. 2016. UC Davis scientist killed in Ethiopia had ‘bright future ahead of her’ available at
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comprehensive fact-finding mission without conducting any interviews. This included soliciting support letters from Adama city administration and Adama Woreda. It was not easy to get those letters. I secured the letters after I took a bold move by approaching the Oromo regional state President’s office where I was referred to Adama city administration. Adama city administration then referred me to Adama and Lome Woreda administration. From the Woreda level, I was referred to the Kebele administration level where several support letters were issued, clearing me to conduct interviews.
During data collection, I had to carefully negotiate the interviewing approach as ‘anti-Chinese’ elements were present although not explicitly expressed so by the general public in Adama (and the surrounding villages). For them, China is seen as propping up a ‘repressive regime’ through massive development finance in industrial parks (see appendix 4.1), infrastructure sector, and technology for security surveillance of those expressing discontentment to the regime. These narratives partly emanated from the expansion of Addis Ababa into Oromia region which led to massive protests in which some of the Chinese industries were affected50.
The Integrated Master Plan of Addis Ababa and the Nearby Oromia Towns (now cancelled51)
further exacerbated the situation leading to massive protest which led to the death of 140 people, and also the enactment of a state of emergency (Chala, 2016). Furthermore, there was growing discontentment by the farmers and youth, who saw their land52 taken and given
to Chinese, Indian, South Korean and Turkish enterprises without being adequately compensated. Oromia residents complained that the enterprises did not give their children employment opportunities, and those employed were poorly remunerated. Add to that there was a preponderance of protests caused by the demand for opening political space and equitable distribution of the economic dividends; the argument being that Oromia which is at the centre of economic growth in Ethiopia, is often side-lined in infrastructure development and various other public goods/services provision53 (Fortin, 2016).
Several factors motivated me to spend a long time in the field. Firstly, as part of the process- tracing approach of reconstructing the case studies, I had to ‘search’ for the stakeholders who were involved in the projects. The process involved mapping out, ‘screening’ and ‘qualifying’
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article106530142.html. My Ethiopian friends strongly advised against traveling to Oromia region.
50 Addis Ababa is an autonomous city-state which is in and surrounded by Oromia Regional State in Ethiopia. It is the capital of Oromia Regional State and Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
51 The Integrated Master Plan of Addis Ababa and the Nearby Oromia Towns was rejected by the Oromo because of mistrust generated from lack of genuine participation and anticipated repercussions on the identity, culture and livelihood of the Oromo. See Asebe Regassa Debelo .n.d. Why do the Oromo Resist the Master Plan? Available at
https://advocacy4oromia.org/articles/why-do-the-oromo-resist-the-master-plan/.
52 Land in Ethiopia is owned by the federal state, there is no private land ownership. The federal state provides only long-term lease agreements to the tenants.
53 My experiences show that the idea of side-lining was not only confined to Oromia, even in Tigray and Amhara, the resentments were present.
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the stakeholders if indeed they were involved and at which stage of the projects. I achieved this by employing referral sampling (see section 3.4.1) which entails asking stakeholders to identify other stakeholders they worked with or engaged in the negotiations, implementation and management of the two wind farms. Secondly, I wanted to immerse myself in the social, cultural, political and economic context of the phenomena I was studying (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). This emic approach allowed me to understand how Ethiopians and local Chinese (those based in Ethiopia) enterprises constructed, produced and interpreted the meaning of interactions in the wind farms. Additionally, the study of negotiation processes and modalities of engagement in decision making cannot be observed by tapping into official policy positions, but by “painstaking in-depth fieldwork” which required considerable time ( Lee, 2013, p. 2).
Thirdly, I wanted to gain trust and establish rapport with institutions I was researching. In every institution, some gatekeepers blocked or provided access to my targeted research participants (Johl & Renganathan, 2010). Some of these gatekeepers were individuals and institutions. The more time I spend interacting with them, the better I began to understand their institutional agendas, interests, values and ideologies which I later exploited to my advantage (Johl & Renganathan, 2010). Gaining access to the institution did not loosely translate into gaining access to the targeted research participants. In most cases, gaining access to targeted research participants was more demanding, complex and required a high level of skills and tactics than for gaining access at an institution level. Mostly, the targeted research participants needed assurance that their participation in the study was not going to jeopardise their work and relationship with their superiors. This was primarily the case, especially in Adama area. For such reasons, targeted research participants would take often longer than expected to accept electronically distributed invitation letters. Some accepted only face to face invitations, of course after three or four times of knocking at their doors. Finally, writing and approval of introductory or support letters targeted to each stakeholder was a long process. These letters were written in English and translated to Amharic, Tigrigna, Afaan Oromo and Mandarin. They had to be reviewed to check if the information provided in those letters was not political and ‘damaging’ and had to go through several ‘hands’ before being approved and put on the official letterhead. For these reasons, it was justified spending nine months in the field.