China Power

China’s Stadium Diplomacy in Africa, Pt. 1: The Talanta Sports Stadium in Kenya

Recent Features

China Power | Diplomacy | East Asia

China’s Stadium Diplomacy in Africa, Pt. 1: The Talanta Sports Stadium in Kenya

As a Chinese company works to complete Kenya’s first international sports complex since 1987, basic details from the cost to the companies involved remain unclear.

China’s Stadium Diplomacy in Africa, Pt. 1: The Talanta Sports Stadium in Kenya

Construction work on the the Talanta Sports Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya, as seen on Jan. 22, 2025.

Credit: Istvan Tarrosy

As China’s foreign policy toward the African continent developed into a(n even more) pragmatic approach in the early 1980s – in particular, following the 11-country tour of Premier Zhao Ziyang in December 1982 – Sino-African relations became increasingly multifaceted. Since the first years of the reform and opening-up policy announced by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, the Chinese side has favored “package deals” that touch on numerous dimensions of the bilateral contexts, including natural resources extraction, infrastructure development, and cultural exchanges – this last one embracing Confucius Institutes and classrooms, government scholarships and cultural and sports exchanges.

As part of the so-called “people-to-people”-centered Chinese approach, sports facilities, and especially soccer stadiums, have played a role in demonstrating China’s goodwill and human-focused policy framing toward African societies. Huge stadium construction has become part of the daily realities of many large African cities, part of a renewed phenomenon in the complex of Africa-China relations.

[...]
Dreaming of a career in the Asia-Pacific?
Try The Diplomat's jobs board.
Find your Asia-Pacific job