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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Seminar Highlights China-Africa Media Alignment
Chinese and African media professionals committed to working together to reshape media narratives about Africa-China relations. Delegates from the continent gathered in Nairobi for a seminar organized by the state-owned China Media Group. Aziz Hartley, editor-in-chief of the partly Chinese-owned Independent ...
Xi’s State-Centric Focus an Opportunity for Africa: Analyst
The South African analyst Steven Kuo wrote in a recent column in the financial daily Business Day that Chinese President Xi Jinping's third term heralds a shift towards state-owned enterprises: "That means there will be more Chinese private enterprises that are ...
Nickel and Diming Poor Countries on Loss and Damage Will Bite the Global North
The debate about compensating the Global South for loss and damage relating to climate change at the COP27 climate summit sparked a debate at the China Global South Project. This column is in response to Eric's take yesterday. The ...
Africa in the Background as Geopolitics Dominate the G20
The G20 summit in Bali is firmly focused on great power politics, with few Global South issues getting any oxygen so far. The meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping unsurprisingly dominated the coverage. ...
China Will “Strongly Support” Climate Compensation, But Not With Actual Money
China will support a mechanism to compensate poor countries for the loss and damage associated with climate change, but it won’t contribute any cash. That was the main takeaway from a press conference by Xie Zhenhua, China’s chief delegate to the COP27 climate summit ...
The China-Shaped Hole in Natural Gas Financing
The role of natural gas in African green transitions has become a flashpoint as Europe tries to maximize its own access to African natural gas while also discouraging African countries from factoring it into their own development plans. New research from Boston University’s Global ...
China-Linked Group Will Run Angolan Transport Corridor
The Angolan government has signed a $450 million agreement with the Portuguese infrastructure group Mota-Engil to run rail and logistics in the Lobito Transport Corridor, which connects Lobito Port to the mining zone in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kenya’s Supreme Court to Weigh In on SGR Contract
Kenya’s Supreme Court will rule on the legality of the country’s Standard Gauge Railway contract. Opponents say the contract being awarded to China Road and Bridge Corp contravened Kenya’s competitive tender rules. The ruling will ...
China Cuts Import Tariffs for Ten Poor Countries
China will cut tariffs on 98% of taxable imports from ten low-income countries. 8,786 different products from Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia will be zero-rated from December 1.
China’s Growing Influence in West Africa
As former colonial powers like France and the United Kingdom lose their relevance in West Africa, the region is pivoting to China. This trend comes as China’s own confidence in West Africa is growing, despite relatively slow engagement compared to other parts of the ...
Kenyans React to Publication of SGR Documents
The decision by the incoming government of Kenya to release some documents relating to the controversial Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway is causing massive controversy at home. The main reaction has been anger that the main commercial contract has not yet been ...
People’s Bank of China Exec Blames Debtor Countries for Transparency Issues
As controversy swirls over the role of Chinese lenders in successive Global South debt crises, China is still getting used to its new role as a global financier. This was one of the takeaways from a revealing speech by Jin Zhongxia, ...