The current anti-Chinese sentiment in Nigeria is a fascinating sign of the times, but I’m a it baffled about what it signals. I don’t know enough about Nigerian society to be able to unpack it in detail. However, it seems like a symptom that China’s narrative of south-south development solidarity may be falling apart.
Whatever battles one might pick with the pervasive misinformation in the country’s coverage of Chinese lending, the wider implication is clear: the story of ‘us against the global north’ China was able to tell in Africa in the past appears to be losing its power. Instead, the debate seems to indicate a shift towards grappling with what a new global landscape shaped by a Chinese superpower will look like.
