China’s role for Africa’s energy transition: a critical review
The article reviews the power generation sector to understand implications of Chinese activities on African countries’ energy development pathways
Abstract
The article reviews the power generation sector to understand implications of Chinese activities on African countries’ energy development pathways. Three groups of studies are reviewed in specific, which focusing on the estimation of Chinese activities in the Sub-Sahara region, the governance structure of development finance and overseas energy activities in China, and the economic, social and environmental impacts of Chinese projects.The author argues that a new research agenda is needed to further develop a precise estimation regarding the size and trend of Chinese activities in the power generation sector in the SSA region, and to unpack the complex actor network and power relations among Chinese actors and with recipient countries. Future researches should also establish more robust evidence regarding the impacts of Chinese activities on energy sector development, economic growth at national level, and local environmental and social benefits at the local level. A more standardised assessment criteria is also required to evaluate these impacts due to the unique characters of Chinese activities compared to traditional OECD practices.
This research is part of the Energy and Economic Growth Applied Research Programme
Citation
Shen, W (2020) ‘China’s role for Africa’s energy transition: a critical review. Energy and Economic Growth Applied Research Programme State of Knowledge Paper
Link
China’s role for Africa’s energy transition: a critical review