Beyond The State: How Chinese Actors Earn Trust Across Africa
As Chinese companies and social organisations grow their presence in Africa, they must prove to governments and communities that they belong.
Across many African countries, companies and non-state organisations (the rough equivalent of NGOs in the West) now help provide roads, services and other public goods once delivered mainly by the state. This shift has roots in decades of market liberalisation, which weakened government capacity and opened space for a wide range of actors to step in.
But for these organisations to operate in public life, they must do more than simply show up - they must legitimate themselves. In other words, they must convince governments and communities that they have the right, capacity and credibility to act.
A recent article argues that we have been looking at legitimacy through too narrow a lens. Much of the academic debate still depends on Western political theory, particularly Max Weber’s idea that legitimacy is something granted mainly to states through rules, authority and rational procedures.
But when we examine how authority works in practice - especially in postcolonial contexts - things look far more complicated.
Rethinking legitimacy beyond Western frames
Traditional theories treat legitimacy almost like a light switch: it is either ‘on’ or ‘off’. They also assume that individual citizens calmly assess institutions and decide whether they approve. This is unrealistic. In many places, legitimacy is not a fixed outcome but an ongoing negotiation involving history, culture, relationships, reputation and practical problem-solving.
Rather than focusing on abstract ideas of consent or rules, legitimacy is something performed, adapted and built through everyday interactions. This becomes especially clear when looking at the fast-growing networks of Chinese companies and social organisations across Africa.
China in Africa: not a single strategy but many practices
It is common to hear China’s presence in Africa described as a centrally directed project driven by Beijing. But research shows a more diverse picture. Chinese actors range from huge state-owned enterprises to private firms, social organisations registered under China’s domestic regulatory system, volunteer groups and hybrids that do not fit neatly into a single category.
These actors do not simply implement a top-down ‘China strategy’. Instead, they navigate between state expectations, local conditions and their own organisational goals. As a result, they draw on different sources of legitimation:
Market-based appeals, emphasising efficiency, quick delivery and ‘win-win’ outcomes
Socialist or anti-imperialist narratives, stressing solidarity and collective uplift
Cultural and philosophical ideas that prioritise harmony, relationships and mutual respect
Many organisations blend these strands, merging business logic with older moral traditions and political ideals.
Three ways Chinese actors build legitimacy
1. Source modalities
These are the ideas and narratives they draw upon. For example:
Firms highlight speed, low costs and reliability
Companies and social organisations invoke China’s own development story - the idea that hardship and collective effort can lift communities out of poverty
Relationship-building practices, such as gift-giving or attending local ceremonies, come from older Chinese traditions but translate well into many African contexts
2. Organisational type
Although companies and social organisations differ, their practices often overlap. Social organisations frequently help companies build community relationships or manage conflict. Both types of actor present themselves as flexible, low-profile and responsive to local needs - qualities that can enhance legitimacy.
3. Contact zones
This is where everything comes together: the local arena in which Chinese organisations interact with African governments, communities and histories. Here, the practical details matter most. Examples include:
hiring respected local intermediaries
listening to community concerns
participating in local social life
adapting to expectations shaped by histories of colonialism, nationalism or earlier Western interventions
Yet tensions also arise. In some settings, expectations of labour rights, wages or corporate transparency differ sharply from Chinese norms, leading to points of friction.
Why this matters
Chinese organisations are neither simply exporting a ‘China model’ nor copying Western development practices. Instead, they assemble legitimacy through a mixture of market logic, political ideology and everyday relational work. This shows that legitimacy is not universal or static - it is local, negotiated and deeply shaped by context.
As global power becomes more polycentric, understanding these varied practices is essential. It helps us see how authority is actually constructed on the ground, rather than assuming that Western standards apply everywhere.
Dodworth, K. and Hönke, J. (2026) Non-state legitimation as practice: the multiplicit making of public authority in Afro-Chinese engagements. Globalizations.
DOI: 10.1080/14747731.2025.2599692
Dr Kathy Dodworth is a Research Fellow in the Department of International Development. Her two key areas of expertise are non-state actors and voluntary labour in development, with a recent interest in the unwaged production of data for development.