Few topics have shaped perceptions about China’s engagement in Africa more than the presence of Chinese construction sites across the continent. Chinese contractors have built countless ports, roads, railways, and more, but the way that work has been done has been very controversial over the years.

There’ve been widespread complaints about mismanagement, abuse, and discrimination at Chinese-run construction sites across the continent. While there’s no doubt some veracity to those claims, many of the allegations are also rooted in vastly different expectations between Chinese managers and local workers.