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Empowering Africa: How Host States Can Influence Chinese-Supported Power Projects

By Naa Adjekai Adjei Over the past decade, Chinese investments have significantly bolstered Africa's infrastructure landscape. However, prevailing narratives have often emphasized China's influence, overshadowing the critical role of African host states in determining ...

“The Mekong is Dying”: How China’s River Diplomacy Neglects Locals, Exacerbates Climate Change

The rainy season would usually start in May, but this was late June and it was still not raining much. Niwat Roykaew, who grew up on the bank of the Mekong River in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province, noticed.  Born and ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: China’s New Green Energy Diplomacy in Africa

Over the past six months, there's been a noticeable increase in the number of green energy deals announced by Chinese private and state-owned enterprises in Africa. But unlike the earlier era of Chinese-financed infrastructure development in Africa, this new push into ...

Week in Review: Debt, Arrests and Market Expansion

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema will head to Washington soon to meet with officials from the IMF and World Bank in an effort to secure a new financing package. The Zambian leader spoke at the UN this week and met with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in New York.While President ...

China’s Cutting Back on BRI Financing, But Not For Renewable Energy

China has dramatically cut back financing overseas infrastructure development initiatives, especially for carbon-intensive energy projects involving oil, gas, and coal. From 2016 to 2019, China's two major policy banks slashed lending by a stunning 85%. ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

2026: Africa-China Relations in a World Shaped by North-South Geopolitics

When talking about Africa–China relations, one is always moving along a sliding scale. There are myriad interactions with Chinese entities that concern only individual African countries, segueing into trends affecting the whole continent and sliding further into global dynamics shaping the developing world, of which Africa is the heart.

The Africa-China relationship is its own thing, but Africa’s fate can’t easily be separated from factors affecting the wider Global South, ...

Ghana’s Thinking Small (And That’s a Good Thing)

The Bui Power Authority (BPA) in Ghana recently launched a new solar farm that's connected to a Chinese-built hydroelectric dam. The idea here is that when water levels run low and power generation dips, the solar farm kicks in to make up the difference. ...

ICYMI: 7 Myths Debunked About Chinese Engagement in Africa’s Hydroelectric Market

For some additional context about Chinese energy engagement in Africa, particularly in the hydroelectric sector where the role of various Chinese stakeholders is often overstated and exaggerated, it's worthwhile to refer back to a paper written in 2017 by China-Africa Research Initiative Director Deborah Brautigam and Ohio State ...

How China’s Evolving Energy Mix Will Impact Its Foreign Policy in Africa

Since 2008, China has been gradually shifting its oil procurement strategy away from Africa towards producers in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. Today, Angola is the only African country in China's list of top ten suppliers. Security is ...

The Complicated Politics of Chinese Dam Construction in Guinea

The 450-megawatt Souapiti hydroelectric dam in Guinea is scheduled to begin operating this fall and will bring badly-needed electricity to one of Africa’s poorest countries. The dam is one of dozens of similar hydroelectric power ...

China and Rwanda Sign Loan Deal for New Hydroelectric Power Plant

The China Exim Bank will provide a $214 million concessional loan to Rwanda to build the 43.5mw Nyabarongo II  power plant in the southern Muhanga District, according to a report in industry news site Energy Voice. The deal also includes a substation and a 110 Kv ...