Author: Cobus van Staden
Dr. Cobus van Staden is an accomplished scholar, journalist, and think tank analyst with more than 20 years of experience in Africa and Asia. Previously, he was the senior China-Africa researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in Johannesburg. Cobus completed his Ph.D. in Japanese studies and media studies at the University of Nagoya in Japan in 2008. He focused on comparisons of Chinese and Japanese public diplomacy in Africa during postdoctoral positions at the University of Stellenbosch and the SARCHI Chair on African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg before joining the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2013. His academic research focused on media coverage of the China-Africa and Japan-Africa relationships, as well as the use of media in public diplomacy in the Global South.
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Will Infrastructure Boost African Growth? Maybe Not, Says Economist
The Kenyan economist David Ndii published a fascinating paper casting doubt on one of the most fundamental assumptions in Africa-China relations: that the key to boosting growth is infrastructure. Ndii, a prominent critic of the ‘first build a road’ infrastructure-focused orthodoxy, ...
Ghana Shows the Global South’s Debt Problem is Bigger than China
The news that Ghana has defaulted on its external debt is sending shivers through the continent. It immediately raises questions about how the Ghanaian people will overcome the crisis and which country could be next. In response to the default, today’s newsletter examines the debt issue from ...
Ghana Becomes Latest Global South Country to Default on Debt
Ghana announced it will suspend payments on most of its debt to bondholders, other commercial lenders, and foreign governments, officially putting it in default. The announcement comes a week after a staff-level meeting with the IMF and a ratings downgrade. Ghana’s economy is spiraling, with 70%-100% of government revenue going to ...
One of China’s Top Africa Diplomats in Ghana Just as Debt Crisis Unfolded
One of China's most senior Africa diplomats, Special Representative Liu Yuxi, was in Ghana on the same day the country's finance ministry announced it would suspend debt repayments to external creditors. Liu appears to be on a regional tour of West Africa , so ...
Zambia’s President Hichilema Clarifies Chinese Loans’ Role in Debt Crisis
As Ghana sinks into debt distress, many are looking to Zambia’s debt restructuring process for clues on how China will feature. Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema provided a glimpse into his government’s thinking about Chinese debt at a Council on Foreign Relations event ...
It’s China, Not Africa That Could be Facing a Debt Trap: Report
At 12% of Africa’s total external debt, China didn’t cause the current wave of debt distress hitting the continent. But the crisis presents Beijing with a dilemma: should it strongarm these countries to get its money back or trade economic losses for diplomatic gains? ...
U.S.-Africa Summit Strengthened Relationship but Didn’t Revolutionize It
As the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit wraps up today, one is struck by a paradox: while several notable new deals were announced, the summit as a whole has been slightly underwhelming. The United States seemed determined to combat two interrelated narratives. First, ...
Chinese State Media Strident on Summit
While the Chinese public seems disinterested in the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, China’s state media is rolling out the invective. The state-owned nationalist tabloid Global Times published two highly negative articles dismissing the summit. In ...
African Media Largely Indifferent to Summit
The U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit has drawn very little media attention in Africa. The coverage that appeared was rehashed copy from international news agencies. Very few publications focused on how the outcomes will affect their home countries. This lack of domestic framing ...
Oh, the Talking Points: Why It’s Sometimes Better When U.S. Officials Leave China Out of the Africa Conversation…
At the outset of the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, one message was clear: African countries hate being made to ‘choose sides’ between the U.S. and China. So, U.S. officials were determined to avoid the appearance of making them do so. That meant steering away from China-related discussions as ...
That Viral Clip of Indian and Chinese Border Fighting Isn’t What It Seems
A video clip purporting to show last week's border clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers is going viral online. However, the news program India Today showed that the footage was actually shot during an earlier skirmish along the Line of ...
What Actually Happened in the China-India Border Fight Last Week?
Last week's violent border skirmish between Chinese and Indian soldiers sent the already frosty relationship into the deep freeze. However, much still remains unknown about the incident and its wider implications. Ananth Krishnan, the Beijing correspondent for ...