JOHANNESBURG: Across South Africa, China's presence is etched into the landscape – in vast solar farms, heavy mining equipment and factories.For decades, Chinese companies have come to Africa's largest economy to build roads, power plants and other infrastructure, while buying the minerals that fuelled China's rapid industrialisation.China has been the region’s largest trading partner for the past 15 years. What began as trade gradually expanded into investment, construction and financing through projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative.But a new chapter is beginning.
As growth slows at home, some Chinese firms are shifting from building projects to establishing a longer-term presence.That transition is already visible in South Africa's renewable energy sector.A SEA OF MIRRORS IN THE DESERTThe Northern Cape is South Africa's largest province, but also its least populated.It is one of the sunniest parts of the country – making it an ideal location for renewable energy.Rising from the desert is Redstone, one of South Africa's largest renewable energy projects.From a distance, the plant looks almost like a shimmering lake. Up close, more than 40,000 mirrors stretch across the landscape, moving together as they follow the sun.The mirrors reflect sunlight onto a central tower, where molten salt stores the heat before releasing it to generate electricity.
