Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/330193 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] Thunderbird International Business Review [ISSN:] 1520-6874 [Volume:] 67 [Issue:] 6 [Publisher:] Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company [Place:] Hoboken, NJ [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 665-679
Publisher: 
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company, Hoboken, NJ
Abstract: 
Non‐Chinese multinational enterprises (MNE) are wondering whether China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) creates challenges or opportunities for them. The fuzzy term “third‐party market cooperation” was coined to involve non‐Chinese MNEs in BRI‐related business opportunities. Our contribution is threefold: First, we explore the role of non‐Chinese firms in the BRI. Second, we locate “third‐party market cooperation” in the international business literature and examine its originality. Third, we assess how non‐Chinese MNEs can seize business potentials associated with third‐party market cooperation in SSA. We conduct a qualitative analysis of official documents and substantiate our analysis by evaluating other media sources on third‐party market cooperation projects in SSA. We find that firms play a decisive role in substantiating the BRI. The core novelty of third‐party market cooperation is its strong political dimension, as governments may initiate and flank the participation of their MNEs in the BRI.
Subjects: 
Africa
B2B
BRI
China
cooperation
international business
MNE
third‐party market cooperation
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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