China’s interest in Africa has grown over the past few years. The interest mostly comes with the Chinese government bankrolling many infrastructure projects in many African countries.

China has financially spearheaded the construction of roads and railways in Nigeria, and their signatures can be visibly seen while using those facilities. 

However, the terms of the project between the local government and the Chinese authorities are mostly hidden and not always straightforward.

China-bankrolled projects cut across many African countries and beyond. Côte d’Ivoire, the host country for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), is not left out of the China-Africa relationship.

Chinese signatures are evident in the ongoing AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire, including three of six stadiums where matches are being played at the tournament. Also, in transportation, China’s big influence is pretty much obvious.

The Alassane Ouattara Olympic stadium in Ebimpé, which played host to the opening ceremony of the AFCON and where the final match would be played, was delivered by the Chinese government, with the Ivorian government reportedly responsible for a portion of the cost. 

The 60,000-capacity ultra-modern stadium, which construction began in 2016 during the tenure of Côte d’Ivoire former Prime Minister Daniel Duncan, was built as one of the Chinese-African partnership’s projects.

Most of the construction work was done by Chinese companies, with the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) preparing design documentation for the stadium, while the construction was done by the Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG). Both companies are Chinese state entities.

Two other venues hosting matches in the ongoing tournament bore Chinese signatures. The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, another state-owned company, built the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro.

The construction work during the building of the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo was executed by China National Building Material Group, which served as the general contractor.

China’s influence in the AFCON is not limited to immovable projects alone — the majority of the buses and coaches that are being used for transporting members of the media covering the tournament and local AFCON workers are made by Chinese auto companies.

Most buses were made by Yutong, a Chinese automaker based in Zhengzhou, China. The carpool was updated in the past few days with buses from another Chinese car manufacturer, Zhongtong, being added.

As opposed to the earlier variants made by Yutong, which run on gas, the new Zhongtong buses are electric vehicles, indicating what the future will look like going into subsequent editions of the biggest football showpiece on the continent as every organisation is making commitments to help reduce the amount of global carbon emissions.

However, it is unclear if the buses are part of the Chinese-African partnership projects or were purchased directly by the host country’s government.

Not everyone is pleased with the projects spearheaded by the Chinese government in the continent, which the West sees as a political strategy. However, China’s influence in Africa is becoming increasingly evident everywhere.