Open Access

Philipp von CarlowitzORCiD, Simon ZüfleORCiD

• 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.