Author: Eric Olander
Eric Olander is the co-founder of the China Global South Project (CAP), an independent, non-partisan media initiative dedicated to exploring every facet of China’s engagement in Africa. Eric is a fluent Mandarin-speaker and a longtime China-watcher with more than 25 years of journalism experience at many of the world’s leading media companies including CNN, the BBC, and FRANCE24 among others. He received his undergraduate degree in East African History from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in Chinese Public Affairs from the University of Hong Kong.
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Lightning Round: U.S. Summits, Huawei and Chinese Mining in the DRC
In this Lightning Round edition of the show, CAP Managing Editor Cobus van Staden and CAP Francophone Editor Geraud Neema break down three of the week's big stories. First, Cobus explains why African leaders would ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: China will Serve as Co-Chair of Zambia’s New Creditor Committee
China, not South Africa or France, will serve as co-chair of Zambia's new creditor committee, said Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane. “It does make sense for our biggest creditor to play a leading part, to take a leading role in the proceedings,” Musokotwane told Bloomberg late last week. "They are ...
Why Washington’s Latest Trade Plan for Asia is Probably Dead on Arrival
IPEF is the latest U.S. acronym that we're going to hear a lot more of as of today. President Joe Biden will tout the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework during the two-day summit with eight ASEAN leaders that begins on Thursday. The IPEF is ...
White House Sticks With Group Diplomacy Rather Than One-on-Ones
At no point in the two-day schedule of the U.S.-ASEAN summit is there any time allocated for President Joe Biden to meet one-on-one with any of the visiting Southeast Asian leaders. Instead, the eight leaders will meet collectively with the President and other senior-level stakeholders.
Chinese and Australian Companies Battle For Control of Massive Congolese Lithium Mine
Two mining majors, one from China and the other from Australia, are fighting a pitched battle over a 15% share of the massive Manono lithium mine in the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo. While normally such a small ownership stake is ...
Ghanaian Chief Pleads For Government to Better Protect His Community’s Land From Illegal Chinese Miners
A local chief in southern Ghana convened a press conference over the weekend to issue a public appeal for the government to do more to protect his community's land against illegal Chinese miners. Nana Gyamera Kwabena Yiakwah II claimed that Chinese ...
Three Days to Go Before the Grand Opening of the Nairobi Expressway and a Lot of People Are Really ?&#)$! at the Chinese Contractor
The highly-anticipated opening of Nairobi's largest ever infrastructure project is now just days away and while many will be thrilled that a new expressway is finally opening to traffic, there's widespread discontent with the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) that built the highway.
China’s Economic Slowdown Felt All the Way at the Port of Mombasa While Namibia’s Port Expands to Grab More DRC Cargo
🇰🇪 Kenyan shipping officials say the lockdowns in China and the long delays for vessels to dock in Chinese ports are having a major impact on the volumes of cargo processed at the Ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. (THE EAST AFRICAN)
Chinese Contractors Complete Burundi’s First New Power Plant in 30 Years
Chinese engineers completed the first phase of the Hujibazi Hydropower Station in Burundi, the country's first new power generation facility in 30 years. This project was financed as an aid initiative and when fully operational later this summer it will generate 15,000 kilowatts of electricity. (CHINA DAILY -- in ...
African Legislators Make Vain Appeal For Debt Cancellation
Legislative leaders from across Africa issued a joint appeal on Tuesday for creditor nations to cancel some of the continent's outstanding debts. The parliamentarians are meeting this week in Abuja for the first-ever gathering of the Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments ...
Chinese Spox Angrily Responds to U.S. Assertion African Governments Put Sovereignty at Risk When Using Huawei
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian used especially pointed language during Monday's regular press briefing in Beijing to denounce U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's recent warning to Angola and other African governments not to use equipment made by Huawei. Sherman made ...
Ethiopia Launches Huawei-powered 5G Network in Addis Ababa
Ethio-Telecom Chief Executive Officer, Frehiwot Tamru (photo) hosted a glamorous launch party complete with some kind of robot to kick off the company's launch of its new Huawei-powered 5G mobile network in Addis Ababa. For now, only certain neighborhoods in the ...