The Paradox of International Construction Practice: a Case of Dominance of Chinese Firms in the Construction of National Trunk Roads in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that promote dominance of Chinese firms in the construction of national trunk roads in Kenya, to establish barriers to local firms competing favourably in ICB tenders for national trunk roads in Kenya and to assess the adequacy of existing legal and policy frameworks in protecting local firms against abuse of dominance by foreign contractors in Kenya. The study adopted descriptive research design. A sample size of 117 was selected, out of which 75 participated in the study. Means, frequencies, Kruskal Walis, Kendall’s W Test on ranking and multiple linear regression were used to analyse the data through SPSS version 25. The study results revealed the respondents were neutral to factors that promote dominance of Chinese firms. The findings indicated that the high influential factors that promote Chinese dominance for contractors relate to support provided to Chinese contractors; for KENHA, the most influential factor relate to issues of costs. The findings highlighted that factors that promote dominance is positive associated with the Chinese dominance in tender for national trunk roads in Kenya. The findings showed neutrality from respondents to barriers of local firms competing favourably in ICB tenders. The findings showed that the most influential barrier for contractor was financial issues while for clients was workforce related barriers. The results also indicated lack of association between the barriers to local firms and Chinese dominance in national trunk tenders in Kenya. The results also demonstrated general agreement that the existing legal and policy framework for protecting local contractors are adequate. The findings revealed that the contractors and clients generally consider existing measures as adequate. The results demonstrate that legal and policy framework does not moderate the relationship of factors or barriers on Chinese dominance in national trunk tenders in road sector. The study concludes support related and cost related factors generally drive the competitiveness of Chine construction firms. The study recommends that the government should prioritize these factors to promote the competitiveness of local contractors against Chinese contractors.