"Inside China’s Power Play: Understanding the Institutions Behind Africa’s Energy Projects" China Global South Project, 8 July 2025

[...] Chinese-supported power generation projects remain poorly understood by many outside actors. One reason for this is that China’s overseas investments – particularly in infrastructure – do not follow a single template. [...]

Closely tied to how Chinese-supported power generation projects are structured is [...] the extensive internal coordination required across Chinese institutions to get a project off the ground.

To engage productively with Chinese partners, African governments and development agencies must move beyond simplistic narratives and cultivate deeper institutional literacy. [...]