While a growing body of literature has documented the distinct characteristics of aid projects from China and traditional donors, a significant knowledge gap exists concerning their differences in project impacts. This paper compares the impacts of Chinese and World Bank development projects on African local economies. We leverage detailed, geocoded project data and employ a stacked difference-in-differences identification strategy. Our findings demonstrate that Chinese infrastructure projects significantly increase nighttime light in the recipient regions, and the effects persist over time. World Bank projects, however, do not exhibit significant impacts on nighttime light. Common factors often highlighted in the aid effectiveness literature, such as project location and specific characteristics, could not fully explain the differences in project impacts. Furthermore, we rule out the complementarity effects from follow-up projects, political favoritism, and implementation by Chinese companies as potential mechanisms for those differences. Finally, by utilizing Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), we establish that both World Bank and Chinese infrastructure projects positively influence women's education attainment and health outcomes.