Across Africa and especially the sub-Saharan Area (sSA), millions of Africans are still without electricity. In South Africa, we have learnt just how precarious power supply can be. However, according to recent information, the situation is changing and green energy could become the new grid supply.

Uganda, with Chinese-funding, could in the near future, see hydropower substations supplying its West Nile region, with its population of around three million, have power supply. Isolated from the national grid, these underdeveloped regions had been relying on diesel generators, while across other regions in Uganda, relied on kerosene in their homes and businesses, contributing to environmental pollution.

Uganda’s 2018 Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development report showed that that firewood and timber accounted for 85% as primary energy source in the West Nile. This led to deforestation and loss of habitat for wildlife in the area. Uganda’s generation capacity of 150 megawatts before the 1990’s was not nearly sufficient to supply demand. Even after construction of the 250 MW Bujagali Hydropower Plant, funded by Western banks, the country’s electricity consumption demand reached 500 MW by 2013.This was just sufficient for its domestic needs with a very small growth margin or unforeseen consumption increases.

Many sSA African countries such as Uganda’s neighbour, Kenya, are facing the same issues, posing significant challenges to healthcare, education, productivity, digital inclusion and ultimately, job creation. Uganda experienced load shedding for decades until the early 2000’s, which became the new normal. However, instead of practical support, Africa was lectured on Western concepts of rights and democracy from Western institutions which did not address Africa’s unique needs.

China, on the other hand, has for decades assisted Africa if only to create a forceful footprint on the continent. With China’s rapid development, especially after the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit (FOCAC) came into existence in 2000, had seen a no-strings-attached win-win situation and growing by leaps and bound. China is committed to programmes which will not only meet Africa’s needs, but also address the challenges hindering the continent’s development. In 2015, Uganda secured a $482.5 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China to fund construction of the 183 MW Isimba Hydropower Project which would eventually support electricity generation far beyond Uganda’s domestic consumption. The same year, an additional $1.4 billion loan was again secured from the same bank to finance the 600 MW Karuma Hydropower Plant, Uganda’s largest hydropower project to date.

As a result, today, Uganda has a power generation capacity of approximately 2,000 MW. The Karuma Hydropower Plant is expected to save approximately 1.31 million tonnes of raw coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3.48 million tonnes annually; the equivalent of planting 1.5 million trees. The West Nile region has also since been connected to the country’s grid and this formerly underdeveloped region will soon see industrial parks being established.
Karuma’s completion led to Uganda’s construction of a transmission line to neighbouring South Sudan with its energy deficits and its population growth as on the rest of the continent, as well. From 2010 to 2020, China built and financed 96 projects aimed at enhancing Africa’s power generation capacity. These energy initiatives, among which many are green ones, are increasing electricity supply, bolstering energy security, reducing reliance on petroleum imports and mitigating the impact of climate change both in Africa and globally.

A green transition is everyone’s goal, but politics are the main barrier. Western media has been opining that China’s increased African project funding is aimed at addressing China’s overcapacity. These false media reports that China struggles with “overcapacity” in green products such as solar panels are now using Africa as its “dumping ground.” Such claims are utterly absurd. China does not face an “overcapacity” issue and it is necessary to evaluate these claims in context of long-term demand. For example, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, globally installed solar photovoltaic capacity would increase to 5,457 GW by 2030. However, based on the current annual global increase, it is estimated that the total capacity will reach only about 2,000 GW by 2030, meaning current capacity is falling short of meeting this expected target.

Apart from that, the Western media’s narrow definition of “overcapacity” as “production exceeding domestic needs” ignores economic fundamentals. When domestic demand is met, the surplus products naturally flow to export markets. If countries produced only for their own needs, cross-border trade would not exist, proving that China’s so-called “dumping” excess capacity in Africa is unfounded. This is not the first time the West has used “overcapacity” as a pretext to undermine China. When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, its large exports of high-quality, affordable goods were labelled as “overcapacity.” Later, the Belt and Road Initiative was similarly criticized, despite the fact that it actually supported the African continent’s industrialization needs and fostered mutual benefits. As China exports new energy products that align perfectly with those environmental values the West has long promoted, it is once again spinning the narrative of “overcapacity.”
China’s hydro products are transforming Uganda and the rest of Africa in many ways with industrial parks established in areas where these hydro and solar power projects were built.

Uganda expects more, given the increase in clean energy generation products. As long as China’s products boost African industries, create local jobs and increase household incomes, why would it be a problem? This labelling also exposes the double standards of some Western countries, especially the United States (US). The U.S. has been pressuring and trying to convince its allies to suppress China in order to repatriate industries, especially high-tech capacity into the U.S.

The semi-conductor sector is a perfect example. The U.S. is the global leader terms of designing, producing and exporting high-end with a large and strong capacity, even an “overcapacity” in this area U.S’s standards. Yet, it not only falls short of reducing its “overcapacity,” but instead, forced back more capacity. However, when China takes the lead in certain areas, such as in green energy, or when Chinese industrial capacity shifts to meet the developmental needs of African nations, it is derided as “dumping” and Beijing is accused of “undermining African industrialization.” The “China overcapacity” theory is merely a pretext for protectionism increasingly more African countries are not buying that argument anymore. Bilateral cooperation through the past decades highlighted China’s unwavering commitment to reciprocal development and partnership in Africa with the continent making it clear that it wishes for this cooperative spirit to continue.