Author: Eric Olander
Eric Olander is the co-founder of the China Global South Project, 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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Nigerian Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with officials from the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC.) The meeting is widely expected to be contentious, because of the slow pace of work on the 203 kilometer Kaduna to Kano railway.
What Did Chinese Community Leaders in Africa Think of the Two Sessions Meeting in Beijing?
Since last Friday, Chinese news has carried wall-to-wall coverage of the Two Sessions "parliamentary pageant" in Beijing. Not surprisingly, it's been followed by Chinese expats across Africa. The Two Sessions meetings provide a rare glimpse into the ...
A Visual Comparison of the Issues Address at the Two Sessions Foreign Minister Press Briefing
Africa, the Korean peninsula, and multilateralism are no longer prominent themes in the Foreign Minister's annual press briefing on the sidelines of the Two Sessions forum in Beijing. The Chinese state-run media outlet CGTN produced a visualization of the topics addressed ...
How the War in Ukraine is Upending Chinese Foreign Policy Around the World
Had Xi Jinping known on February 4th when he last saw his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Winter Olympics in Beijing that only a month later China's entire foreign policy strategy would be in turmoil, one imagines that he would have done more to stop the ...
South African Immigration Authorities Reportedly Block Chinese Travelers From Returning Home
Five Chinese nationals were reportedly detained at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg earlier this month as they tried to return home for allegedly having either expired or fake travel visas. Reports are circulating on Chinese-language WeChat communities in ...
Bienvenue à Le Projet Afrique Chine en français
The China-Africa discourse today is richer and far more nuanced than it was in 2010 when Cobus and I launched CAP. But there's still a long way to go, as shown by the stubborn simplistic narratives that keep framing the relationship in terms of debt traps and ...
Troubling Economic Forces Are Converging in Kenya
The war in Ukraine is exacerbating Kenya's worsening financial crisis by contributing to higher inflation and adding more pressure to the already embattled shilling. In fact, several potentially dangerous economic forces appear to be converging in Kenya. This interplay will make life more difficult for both policymakers ...
Wu Ashun Becomes First Chinese to Win Kenya Open Golf Tournament
Chinese professional golfer Wu Ashun took home the top prize at Sunday's Magical Kenya Open in Nairobi on Sunday, becoming the first Chinese, and the first person of Asian descent, to win the tournament. But it wasn't an easy win. He ...
China Exim Bank’s Controversial Loan to Expand Uganda’s Entebbe Airport
New research from AidData at the College of William & Mary in the United States provides the first insight into the loan contract between China Exim Bank and the Ugandan government for the expansion of the Entebbe International Airport. ...
A New Era Begins in Chinese Football as First-ever Biracial Player Wins Spot on U17 National Squad
Guangzhou native Huang Shenghao (黄晟豪) is China's first-ever biracial player to win a spot on a national football squad. The son of a Chinese mother and Nigerian father, the 14-year old midfielder will play on the U17 national team. While Huang's ...
Chinese Businesses Grapple With Violence, Crime in South Africa and Angola
Foreign-owned businesses in the northwestern South African city of Witbank (aka Emalahleni City) have been closed all week in response to street protests against a Chinese-owned supermarket. On Monday, a family entered the store when the father got into some kind of ...
Kenya’s Weakening Currency is Pushing Up the Cost of Imports and Debt Servicing Costs
The Kenyan shilling is rapidly devaluing against the dollar, breaking a record low of 114 this week and prompting fears that a potentially dangerous economic cycle is gaining momentum. There's growing concern that Kenya is spending more and more ...