Abstract
This paper discusses and conceptualises the notion of Chineseness as related to infrastructure projects in Ghana and Africa more generally. Based on fieldwork in Ghana and secondary literature, our study combines two aspects. On the one hand, we undertake a nationality and origin-based analysis of all the elements (ownership, financing, design, consulting, construction standards, materials and equipment, labour practices) making up Chinese infrastructure projects in Ghana. On the other hand, we include perceptions of such projects as Chinese. Our analysis identifies different degrees of Chineseness in Ghana’s infrastructure projects, what we also describe as “diluted Chineseness.” We find that even projects perceived as “fully Chinese” are populated by other international and local actors. Our study further reveals how portrayals of such infrastructure projects as “fully Chinese” are used by different actors to push different agendas – at times expressing opposite views about the Chinese presence in Africa.
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Excerpt
Full text document will be published online on December 2025.
Outline
Introduction
Chinese presence in Ghana’s infrastructure development
Unpacking the different layers of “Chinese construction projects” in Ghana
Ownership and financing: African ownership with company-driven financing
Design: Building styles vs. technical construction outputs
The pivotal role of the architect-engineer consultant company
Whose construction standards?
Materials and equipment: Locally sourced or imported
Local employment and labour practices in Chinese construction sites: A debated field
Perceptions and dilution of Chineseness in Ghana’s infrastructure development and beyond
Perceived Chineseness
Diluted Chineseness
Who benefits from the “fully Chinese” label?
Conclusion
First lines
Introduction
Over the last two decades, China’s role in Africa’s infrastructure development has risen steeply. The case of Ghana is exemplary in this respect. While large infrastructure in Ghana has historically been financed by European or American institutions and built by European companies, since the 2000s, infrastructures in sectors such as transportation, telecommunications, energy, and water treatment as well as government buildings, stadiums, and hospitals have instead increasingly been financed by Chinese institutions and built by Chinese companies. These projects have been commonly labelled as “Chinese” in press reports and academic literature: however, a closer look at Chinese projects in Ghana reveals different degrees and modalities of Chinese involvement. As scholars have observed in other African countries, contemporary Chinese infrastructure projects on the continent are actually involving a wide range of non-Chinese actors and stakeholders (Pairault 2014, 2020; Han a...
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References
Bibliographical reference
Paola Pasquali and Costanza Franceschini, “Defining Chineseness in Chinese Infrastructure Projects in Africa: The Case of Ghana”, China Perspectives, 139 | 2024, 59-69.
Electronic reference
Paola Pasquali and Costanza Franceschini, “Defining Chineseness in Chinese Infrastructure Projects in Africa: The Case of Ghana”, China Perspectives [Online], 139 | 2024, Online since 01 December 2025, connection on 17 January 2025. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/17414; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/130gp
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About the authors
Paola Pasquali is an independent researcher associated with the UMR 8504 Géographie-cités, 5, cours des Humanités, 93322 Aubervilliers, France, and the Centre for Asian Studies, University of Ghana, Department of Political Science, Ebenezer Laing Rd, Accra, Ghana (paola.pasquali@parisgeo.cnrs.fr).
By this author
Costanza Franceschini is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Pieter de la Court Building, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands (c.franceschini@fsw.leidenuniv.nl).
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