China's emergence as a primary development partner in Africa has positioned state-led capitalism as a potent, albeit contested, alternative to the Washington Consensus. While the model's replicability is widely debated, the perspectives of international development practitioners who mediate between global norms and local policy remain largely overlooked. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with international development specialists, this study evaluates the perceived applicability and implications of the Chinese model through the lenses of developmental state, dependency, and norm localization theories. The findings reveal predominantly cautious optimism among respondents, with most expressing generally positive views about the potential of state capitalism. Participants identify weak state capacity and elite capture as primary structural barriers, reinforcing the developmental state theory's emphasis on bureaucratic autonomy as a precondition for success. The analysis reveals other constraints: African states face continued dependency on Western capital markets alongside emerging risks from Chinese lending. Ultimately, rather than direct replication, respondents advocate for context-sensitive hybridity. This suggests that the potential diffusion of state capitalism across Africa will likely result in localized variants rather than a wholesale institutional shift.
