China in sub-Saharan Africa: Projects & strategic projection

Published in October 2021, this map provides an overview of projects across sub-Saharan Africa with Chinese involvement.

Projects marked consists of planned Chinese-backed coal projects, Hydropower projects (operating or under constriction) and ports either operated by Chinese entities or financed and/or constructed by Chinese entities. Sites of recent Chinese military presence are also noted.

A chart shows sovereign and hidden debt exposure to China as a percentage of GDP (sourced from AidData)

Power generation data was drawn from our African Energy Live Data platform, which contains project level detail on power plants and projects across Africa.

The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.