Photos: YouTube Screenshots
China’s global infrastructure push, through its flagship Belt and Road Initiative, is increasingly being driven by investments in green technology in partner nations, including several in Africa.
Chinese manufacturers have mostly shipped clean-tech products abroad as commodities rather than as part of a wider project, according to Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst of the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
In comparison, their role in foreign coal plants comprises financing, engineering, and operation of the facilities. But that has been changing since 2023, when Beijing instructed the BRI to shift away from mega infrastructure projects to “small but beautiful” ones, such as solar plants in Africa.
Read on for how the BRI’s shifts offers a glimpse into the energy transition in developing economies. →
