As Africa and China enter 2026, their relationship is undergoing a quiet but consequential transformation. Long characterised by infrastructure loans, extractive trade, and high-level summits, Africa–China cooperation is evolving into a more complex, strategic, and contested partnership—shaped as much by African priorities as by China’s global recalibration.
Recent policy signals, project pipelines, and institutional reforms suggest that the coming year will not merely extend existing trends, but redefine how the relationship functions in practice. Seven shifts stand out.
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