When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...
Month: August 2019
Related Posts
At TICAD7, China is Invisible, but Ever-Present
There’s a real disconnect at TICAD7 this year. This gap isn’t between Japan and Africa. Rather it’s between the experience of being inside TICAD and how it’s represented in the media. The dominant outside narrative is that TICAD is all about China – in
Reflections on TICAD7 With Judd Devermont
In this episode, Eric & Cobus speak with Judd Devermont, Director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent think tank in Washington, on his key takeaways from this year’s Tokyo International Conference on African ...
One Chinese Company’s Bold, Controversial Plan to Wipe Out Malaria in Kenya
Malaria is a global threat. In 2017, an estimated 20,000 people were killed in terrorist-related incidents. That same year, 435,000 people died from the mosquito-borne disease, predominantly in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.
Why Using a Zero-Sum Analysis to Compare Japan and China in Africa “doesn’t work”
With the Tokyo International Conference on African Development or TICAD, summit coming up this week in Yokohama, there is often a temptation to compare Tokyo's engagement strategy in Africa with that of Beijing's. Furthermore, there are often references to how the Sino-Japanese rivalry in Asia also tends ...
Why Everyone Will Be Thinking About China at the Upcoming Japan-Africa Summit
54 countries and international organizations will convene at the end of August in Yokohama for the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development or TICAD. While the event is ostensibly about Japanese engagement with Africa, a lot of attendees will likely ...
What African Banks Can Learn from Chinese Fintechs
In 2017, mobile technologies and services generated 7.1% of GDP across Sub-Saharan Africa, and Mckinsey found a sharp rise in the number of mobile financial services such as peer-2-peer borrowing, group savings and micro-loans among others. ...
China-Africa 101: Do Regular Africans Approve? Polls & Stories on China’s Likeability
Many African leaders often praise the Asian country as a reliable partner in Africa. They say their relationship is a “win-win,” and paint an optimistic picture for the future. Critics, however, are skeptical. They believe that the close relationship ...
Case Study: Chinese Recycling Firm Creates Jobs while Cleaning Up Lusaka
Isabel Tembo, a mother of 2, wakes up every morning and heads to a local dumpsite in Zambia’s capital - Lusaka to join several other jobless women who pick through piles of garbage to collect plastic bottles for sale. ...
Daily Nation Columnist: Africans Shouldn’t Worry About Chinese Loans as Much as Chinese Organized Crime in Their Countries
Anti-fraud consultant Michael Kuria says he's not worried about Chinese loans to Kenya. If Kenya defaults on their debts to Beijing, he writes in today's Daily Nation newspaper, well, that's China's problem. "I trust that they are smart enough to know not to throw good money after ...
Q&A: Chinese Sales of Surveillance Technology to African Governments is Understandably Worrisome but in no way Exceptional
The recent Wall Street Journal investigation that revealed Huawei employees allegedly aided the Ugandan and Zambian governments to spy on political opponents confirmed, in many peoples' minds, the suspicions about Huawei and how the company presents a viable threat to civil rights, particularly in non-democratic societies. ...
Podcast Transcript: Will China Come to the Rescue of South Africa’s Ailing Energy Giant Eskom?
Eric: Hello and welcome to another edition of the China in Africa podcast. I'm Eric Olander and as always I'm joined by Cobus Van Staden, senior China Africa Researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, South Africa. ...
Will China Come to the Rescue of South Africa’s Ailing Energy Giant Eskom?
South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom is in dire straits. The electric power company now has more than $30 billion of debt and its current revenue no longer provides enough money to cover daily operational costs. Now, as a result of ...