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Paper short abstract:

This paper analyzes the Kenyan SGR’s institutional impact via three drivers: export of Chinese standards, technology transfer fostering local innovation, and regulatory gaps informing security pluralism. It highlights co-evolution in Chinese and local actors in China-Global South relations.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses institutional impact of the Kenyan Standard Gauge Railway by discussing three drivers, their effect on Chineses and Kenyan stakeholders, and the resulting institutional impact. First, the need for overseas market expansion galvanizes BRI’s introduction of Chinese standards, technology, and equipment, pushing forward for bureaucratic and procedural changes for both the Chinese and Kenyan entities during railway development. Second, to ensure that railway technology is fully transferred to Kenyan hands to ensure project ownership and sustainability, Chinese and Kenyan stakeholders overcome push for innovations that revolutionizes local learning institutions. Third, in the development of the railway project, the regulatory vacuum in a nascent railway industry in Kenya creates opportunities for the Chinese corporation to shape local security arrangements by involving private contractors, introducing Chinese laws, regulations, and training. The institutional impact of the SGR showcases the co-evolution of Chinese and host country institutions driven by megaproject development, inspiring new directions in the study of China-Global South relations and global China.