Twice-weekly discussion about China's engagement across Africa and the Global South hosted by journalist Eric Olander and Asia-Africa scholar Cobus van Staden in Johannesburg.
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The China Africa Project is a multimedia resource dedicated to exploring every aspect of China’s growing engagement with Africa. Through a combination of original content and curation of third-party material from across the Internet, the CAP’s objective is purely informational. None of the blog’s authors or producers have any vested interest in any Chinese or African position.
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The State of Chinese Tech in Africa With Benjamin Dada
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For much of the past ten years, Chinese technology in Africa focused largely on devices and infrastructure. But today, the conversations also include issues related to governance, online services, and the emergence of artificial intelligence.Benjamin Dada, founder of the popular African tech news site BenDada.com, joins Eric to discuss the latest C…
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The State of Chinese Tech in Africa With Benjamin Dada
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For much of the past ten years, Chinese technology in Africa focused largely on devices and infrastructure. But today, the conversations also include issues related to governance, online services, and the emergence of artificial intelligence. Benjamin Dada, founder of the popular African tech news site BenDada.com, joins Eric to discuss the latest …
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Labor Relations at Chinese Construction Sites in Africa
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Few topics have shaped perceptions about China's engagement in Africa more than the presence of Chinese construction sites across the continent. Chinese contractors have built countless ports, roads, railways, and more, but how that work was done has been very controversial over the years.There've been widespread complaints about mismanagement, abu…
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Labor Relations at Chinese Construction Sites in Africa
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Few topics have shaped perceptions about China's engagement in Africa more than the presence of Chinese construction sites across the continent. Chinese contractors have built countless ports, roads, railways, and more, but how that work was done has been very controversial over the years. There've been widespread complaints about mismanagement, ab…
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[GLOBAL SOUTH] Why a Chinese-backed Canal Project in Cambodia is Making Vietnam Very Nervous
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Former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen was in Beijing last week lobbying the Chinese government to move forward with the $1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal project which his son, President Hun Manet, has made the centerpiece of his new administration. The new canal would connect Phnom Penh's inland port to Kep province on the Gulf of Thailand, creating a n…
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Why a Chinese-Backed Canal Project in Cambodia is Making Vietnam Very Nervous
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Former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen was in Beijing last week lobbying the Chinese government to move forward with the $1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal project which his son, President Hun Manet, has made the centerpiece of his new administration.The new canal would connect Phnom Penh's inland port to Kep province on the Gulf of Thailand, creating a ne…
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Tang Xiaoyang on Why the U.S., Not China is to Blame for Africa’s Debt Problems
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While many in the West still contend Africa's worsening debt crisis is largely due to excessive Chinese lending, Tsinghua University Professor Tang Xiaoyang argues that accusation just isn't true. Instead, the well-known China-Africa scholar contends the main problems facing African borrowers today are anchored in the United States. Most of Africa'…
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Tang Xiaoyang on Why the U.S., Not China is to Blame for Africa’s Debt Problems
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While many in the West still contend Africa's worsening debt crisis is largely due to excessive Chinese lending, Tsinghua University Professor Tang Xiaoyang argues that accusation just isn't true. Instead, the well-known China-Africa scholar contends the main problems facing African borrowers today are anchored in the United States. Most of Africa'…
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Chinese EV Brands Want to Dominate Global South Auto Markets
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Enthusiasm for electric vehicles is waning in both the U.S. and China, but that is definitely not the case in other parts of the world where EV adoption rates are steadily rising. In fact, at the Bangkok Motor Show this week, Chinese EV brands are grabbing all of the attention.Throughout the Global South, Chinese EV brands are expanding their prese…
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[GLOBAL SOUTH] Chinese EV Brands Want to Dominate Global South Auto Markets
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Enthusiasm for electric vehicles is waning in both the U.S. and China, but that is definitely not the case in other parts of the world where EV adoption rates are steadily rising. In fact, at the Bangkok Motor Show this week, Chinese EV brands are grabbing all of the attention. Throughout the Global South, Chinese EV brands are expanding their pres…
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Why Angola is the “Vietnam of Africa” - Week in Review
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Angolan President João Lourenço returned from a three-day visit to China loaded with goodies. He secured an upgrade in diplomatic ties, promises of new investment and, most importantly, a major reduction in monthly debt payments.Lourenço's success in China comes as Luanda is also luring massive engagement from the U.S., prompting some observers to …
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WEEK IN REVIEW: Why Angola is the "Vietnam of Africa"
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Angolan President João Lourenço returned from a three-day visit to China loaded with goodies. He secured an upgrade in diplomatic ties, promises of new investment and, most importantly, a major reduction in monthly debt payments. Lourenço's success in China comes as Luanda is also luring massive engagement from the U.S., prompting some observers to…
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[GLOBAL SOUTH] Author Jeremy Garlick on China's Strategic Advantage in the Global South
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U.S. and European officials often lament that they've fallen behind China when it comes to engaging Africa, Asia, the Americas, and other developing regions. Western governments aren't set up to rapidly deploy the kind of money and resources that Beijing's done with its Belt and Road Initiative over the past ten years. While the U.S. and Europe are…
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Author Jeremy Garlick on China's Strategic Advantage in the Global South
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U.S. and European officials often lament that they've fallen behind China when it comes to engaging Africa, Asia, the Americas, and other developing regions. Western governments aren't set up to rapidly deploy the kind of money and resources that Beijing's done with its Belt and Road Initiative over the past ten years.While the U.S. and Europe are …
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China’s Slowing Economy Could be a Catalyst for Change in Africa
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Angolan President João Lourenço kicked off a three-day visit to China this week that will take him to Beijing and Shandong Province. The timing of Lourenço’s trip comes as the Chinese economy is facing enormous challenges amid a plunge in FDI, surging youth unemployment, and much slower growth.Gyude Moore from the Center for Global Development in W…
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China's Slowing Economy Could be a Catalyst for Change in Africa
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Angolan President João Lourenço kicked off a three-day visit to China this week that will take him to Beijing and Shandong Province. The timing of Lourenço's trip comes as the Chinese economy is facing enormous challenges amid a plunge in FDI, surging youth unemployment, and much slower growth. The easy Chinese money for African leaders is no longe…
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A Call for African & Latin American Countries to Share Notes on Dealings With China
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed this week the triennial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) conference that will take place later this year in Beijing will, in fact, be a leaders summit. Before the FOCAC summit, Latin American and Caribbean leaders will take part in a similar gathering known as the China-CELAC forum. It's rather un…
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[GLOBAL SOUTH] Surveying the Geopolitical Landscape in SE Asia With ASEAN Wonk Prasanth Parmeswaran
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The escalating tensions between China, the Philippines and the United States in the South China Sea highlight how Southeast Asia is now the most dangerous frontline in the burgeoning Great Power competition between Beijing and Washington. But as this week's ASEAN summit in Australia highlights, there is no consensus in the region over how the South…
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Chinese Diplomacy in Sierra Leone and Nigeria With Tobi Oshodi
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Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio is in the midst of a five-day visit to China that included talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, among other high-level officials. While Bio is getting a lot of face-time with China’s political elites, the more pressing question is what he is actually getting out of the visit. Tobi Oshodi, a p…
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[GLOBAL SOUTH] China and the Indonesia Nickel Trade: Measuring the True Labor and Environmental Cost
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A lot of EV consumers bought new battery-powered cars in the hope it would be better for the environment than a vehicle with a conventional internal combustion engine that runs on fossil fuels. By some measures, that's no doubt true. But many of these early adopters are also unaware their supposedly "green" cars aren't quite as carbon neutral as pr…
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What Exactly is the "Global South"?
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Academics and think tank analysts, predominantly in the U.S. and Europe, spend a lot of time debating whether it's appropriate to use the nomenclature "Global South" to describe developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, among other regions. In those regions, it's actually less of an issue where framings like "South-South" are commonpl…
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[GLOBAL SOUTH] China-Indonesia Ties in the New Prabowo Subianto Era
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They're still counting the votes in Indonesia after last week's election but it's all but certain that Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto will become the country's next president. While some of the world's major powers like the U.S. and India are holding back their official congratulations, the Chinese weren't so reserved. Ambassador Lu Kang went to…
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Africa's Digital Sovereignty in the Era of U.S.-China Great Power Competition
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In the increasingly acrimonious competition between the U.S. and China over technology standards, it's often assumed that smaller countries in places like Africa lack the necessary agency to determine their digital destinies. In some instances, that is, in fact, true, given that technology is developing much faster than most governments, particular…
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Africa's Debt Dilemma: The Urgent Need for More Equitable Borrowing
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For the first time in years, a few African countries are venturing back into the bond market to raise funds for infrastructure and to pay down their debts. However, borrowing more from private creditors is a risky move given the difficulties that many African governments, namely Zambia, have encountered in restructuring their existing debt portfoli…
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WEEK IN REVIEW: Kenya to Overhaul China Policy & Chinese Infrastructure in the DRC
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Kenya has a new envoy to China, Willy Bett, who formally presented his credentials to President Xi Jinping this week. Among Ambassador Bett's first tasks will be to follow up on Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi's promise to craft a new China policy. Mudavadi, who just returned from a three-day trip to Beijing, said a policy re…
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