Valeria
Lauria

My research examines the political economy of digital infrastructure in Africa. I connect three strands: the financing of infrastructure, the critical minerals on which the digital economy rests, and the governance of cloud, AI and platform ecosystems. Across these areas, I ask how competition among China, the EU and the United States is reshaping Africa’s digital transformation, and under what conditions African states, firms and regulators can shape these engagements to advance their own priorities. This work builds on ten years of research into Chinese involvement in African infrastructure. My doctoral research, completed through a dual-degree PhD programme at the International Institute of Social Studies (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, focused on the causes and consequences of Chinese financing and investment in Ethiopia’s infrastructure sector.

It also examined how African actors, both within and outside the state, negotiate these engagements and shape their outcomes. Prior to joining Manchester, I held a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellowship at the European University Institute and a Boya Postdoctoral Fellowship at Peking University, as well as visiting fellowships at Yale University’s MacMillan Center and Tsinghua University. Alongside my academic work, I have worked at the intersection of academia and policymaking as the founder of the think tank Agenda for International Development (A-id), as an adviser to the Lead Co-Chair of the G20/T20 Task Force on Infrastructure Investment and Financing, and in various capacities with several international organisations and foundations, including the OECD, UNDP and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation.