{"id":91015,"date":"2026-01-29T08:40:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/?p=91015"},"modified":"2026-02-02T09:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T09:04:35","slug":"renew-9-chinas-energy-loans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2026\/01\/29\/renew-9-chinas-energy-loans\/","title":{"rendered":"Renew\u00a0#9: China’s energy loans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This week I\u2019m focusing on clean energy beyond South Africa, inspired by a dataset on Chinese loans to Africa. I was looking at the loans for energy projects and it reminded me of something we did last year that showed the proportion of electricity generated from hydro in African countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time it surprised me. My world is shaped by living in a water-scarce country where most of our electricity is generated from coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chart below doesn\u2019t account for electricity imports; it\u2019s just what\u2019s locally generated and doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that hydro meets 100% of a country\u2019s energy demand. Namibia, for example \u2013 which you\u2019ll probably be surprised to see on the top row of the chart because so much of it is desert \u2013 imported\u00a060% of its electricity<\/a><\/strong> in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Africa has 43 GW of installed hydro capacity, according to the International Hydropower Association<\/a><\/strong>. That\u2019s 20% of the total electricity generated on the continent but only a \u201csmall fraction\u201d of its potential, it says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where Chinese loans to Africa come in. African countries have received more than $66-billion in loans from China for energy projects and most of the power generation loans were for hydroelectric projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all, 207 energy-related loans were recorded in the Chinese Loans to Africa database maintained by Boston University\u2019s Global Development Policy Centre. The database covers 2000 to 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which countries got loans?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

China has committed loans for energy in 35 African countries. The projects ranged from gas, oil and coal to clean energy and transmission and distribution. There\u2019s even a nuclear project: a $100-million loan in 2011 for Niger\u2019s \u200b\u200bAzelik uranium mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About half the loans were for transmission and distribution projects, the infrastructure that moves electricity from the facilities that generate it to the places that use it. In terms of power generation, the database lists more than 30 hydro projects. (see table here<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were a few other clean energy projects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n