#27 - Beyond Jollof Wars: Chinese Influence On African Media Freedoms

What in the World?

The United States has been immersed in the news of the trade war China and concerns about Chinese currency manipulation. But across the ocean in Africa, the Chinese have a different kind of relationship. Their presence has grown exponentially over several decades. Annually, trade between Africa and China has ballooned to $166B—China IS Africa’s largest trading partner.

China’s Africa strategy, though, raises a lot of concerns on the part of the West because of China’s human rights abuses--they aren’t particularly known to be champions of the many freedoms we have here in the states like press, speech, religion, etc, and many are concerned that their pivot towards Africa actually emboldens corruption and sets Africa back in terms of having more open, free, and industrialized societies—concepts we typically associate with democracy. This episode focuses on the role of the Chinese in African media. How are the Chinese using Africa media to connect with Africans? What are some of the regulatory concerns? And most importantly, why does any of this matter to us here in the U.S.? George Sarpong, Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy answers all of this and shares his thoughts on the debate of the century: Which country makes the best jollof rice?

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