In 2025, African countries received close to US$40 billion in varied forms of foreign direct investments, demonstrating the growth of China–Africa relations. Dankwah’s African Constructions of China explores the diverse narratives generated by China’s growing investments in Africa. It reveals what actually goes on and what is at stake when scholars such as Mbaye stress the need for a unified approach to Africa’s cooperation with China. I can place this volume alongside Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa,Footnote ¹ with Dankwah’s differing greatly in that it is single-authored and draws on rich data from African state and non-state entities.

The volume examines the complex form Chinese and African identities have assumed in the wake of China’s involvement in Africa in contemporary times. This interaction is by no means recent; it began during the Tang dynasty (618–907), long before the first European ever set foot on the continent, and continued through the Qing dynasty (1644–1912).Footnote ² However, there is a slant in Dankwah’s focus: the exploration of the competing narratives about China–Africa relations by both state and non-state actors as they pertain to China’s motives in Africa, the status of Chinese immigrants, the impacts of Chinese projects, and the usefulness of and attitudes to Chinese loans, among other issues.

The breadth of information includes print, online and interview data collected over a ten-year period (2000–21). The book comprises seven thematic chapters that primarily draw on fifty-five oral interviews with a wide range of participants, including former presidents, members of parliament, radio hosts and civil servants. Dankwah makes a foray into ‘what China represents to the region and how it compares to the Western powers’ (p. xxi). The book’s introduction lays out the problem of how China, Africa’s biggest economic partner today, is perceived on the continent – by whom, with what motivations, what these perceptions are and what implications result from them. Chapter 1 traces the history of Chinese–African relations from the birth of the People’s Republic of China to the country’s micro-, macro- and meso-entrepreneurial business interests today, ranging from the radical South–South cooperation of the Mao Zedong years to the ‘cooperative relations with the Western powers’ and the guided economic restructuring of Den Xiaoping’s years (p. 6).

In Chapter 2, Dankwah reviews the literature on China–Africa engagements and highlights their strengths and blind spots. Dankwah overhauls Alexander Wendt’s extant constructivist approach of moulding identities and interests by providing two important innovations. First, he states that the intricate structure of authority emanates from varied sources. Second, he contends that domestic debates significantly contribute to understanding the motives of a foreign power. This innovative re-reading and reframing of the constructivist concept sets this work apart and makes it a groundbreaking study, as previously unknown data have been sourced and skilfully interpreted in subsequent chapters.

Chapter 3 discusses the dimensions of constructivism, focusing on data on internal identity traits that inform how a country relates to another. Chapter 4 embodies an internal contradiction in the narrative about China. The China-friendly narrative is expounded mainly by state officials and is highlighted by the media; yet non-state members of the opposition who see China as exploitative belie this version. In Chapter 5, Dankwah examines the issue of African states’ active participation in forging their relationship with China. Chapter 6 explores China’s influence in Africa’s international politics, which is contrasted with Western powers’ relationship with Africa, particularly during the colonial era. China emerges from this contrast in a favourable light, even as the future of the China–Africa relationship seems set on a certain positive trajectory. Dankwah concludes the book in Chapter 7 with a discussion of his research findings and their implications for scholarship.

Dankwah’s work hints that the African side of the relationship was forged amid discordant aspirations, which in turn created an opening for exploitative tendencies on the Chinese side. The work, therefore, seems to be a wake-up call for Africa’s foreign policy crafters to be more circumspect, insightful and farsighted, unifying their voices and aiming to achieve more from the bargain. In this way, the trade surplus and benefits of Sino-African engagements that China currently enjoys could be balanced. He puts the blame squarely on African governments; I hope policymakers are reading the book. With copious evidence from state and non-state actors in Ghana and Kenya, Dankwah presents the image of a relationship that requires work, calibration and refurbishment, but that should not be discarded. So it invites readers to see where tensions are but also how equitable inter-regional cooperation could be fostered.

African Constructions of China is an important work on the perceptive frames of two interested partners and how they mould their interests through narrativized models. It signals an innovative understanding of the framing of international relations. I recommend this inspiring work to historians, international relations experts, anthropologists, sociologists, ethnologists, political scientists, literary scholars, media experts, Africanists and all enthusiasts of Sino-African relations seeking to deepen their understanding of African–Chinese economic relations today and in the future.