Yuchen Wang

Yuchen Wang is a PhD candidate at the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL). His research interests include international relations, comparative politics, and political economy of Africa. His doctoral project is provisionally entitled The Political Economy of Solar Energy in West Africa. Drawing on in-depth interviews, archival research, and multi-sited fieldwork, this project will examine industrial policy, state-business relations, energy regionalism, and foreign investment and trade within the region’s solar energy sector.

Before beginning his PhD, Yuchen obtained an MA in African Studies from Leiden University, where he conducted fieldwork in Accra and Tema for his master’s thesis on the role of private actors in Ghana’s electricity governance. He previously completed a Master’s in International Security at Sciences Po Paris, and holds dual BA degrees in International Politics and Journalism from Renmin University of China in Beijing.