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The global development landscape is being notably changed by the recently significant rise of South-South Cooperation (SSC) with emerging countries playing a significant and more autonomous role in the provision of development cooperation. The number and type of initiatives that are been carried out within SSC are reshaping lots of the issues related to development, particularly in the African continent. African countries have indeed witnessed a notorious increase in development assistance’s flows from emerging powers such as Brazil and China. Yet, while China’s presence in Africa has often been the subject of much critical debate, Brazil’s reputation has not been equally questioned. Against this backdrop, why Chinese development cooperation has been framed so differently, with a clearly negative connotation, by the vast majority of the existing literature? My research stemmed mainly by this question.

SSC is defined by a set of guiding principles that have to be fulfilled. This normative aspect of SSC represents a sort of “safe net” for development initiatives, granting a certain standard in the implementation of the project as well as protecting the interests of the beneficiary countries. By relying on such principles I will address the contrasting characterization of Chinese and Brazilian development cooperation in order to demonstrate that their strategies are more akin that it may appear.

This thesis wants to be a contribution to the extended debate and criticism regarding Chinese development cooperation projects in Africa by proposing a comparative perspective that aligns China with Brazil. My claim will rely on the fulfillment by both countries of the main principles that guide SSC. Out of practical reasons, the observance of such principles will be assessed through the content analysis of primary and secondary sources on the following projects: Brazilian agricultural cooperation project – the Cotton-4 project - , and Chinese infrastructure initiative – Kaléta Hydropower Station in Guinea. My critical approach will combine two theoretical traditions of International Relations: Realism and Constructivism, which, from my point of view, may be both of use in understanding the multiple facets of these countries’ involvement in Africa’s development.