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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Challenging China's dominance in Africa's tech sector was one of the key takeaways from this month's Europe-Africa summit and a key component of the EU's Global Gateway infrastructure agenda. But it's not going to be easy given the enormous breadth of ...
China, Africa and the War in Ukraine
With the Russian military now moving on Ukraine, the consequences of Europe's latest war are being felt around the world. Asian markets fell sharply today while oil prices shot up, crossing the $100 mark for the first time in seven years. ...
New Documentary Reveals Widespread Abuse of Local Workers by Chinese Construction Company in Lesotho
An investigation by the independent, non-partisan MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism in Lesotho uncovered widespread abuse by Chinese managers at the multinational Chinese construction company CNQC (中国青建) working in the small southern African country. Workers said a lack of any oversight ...
Deconstructing Chinese Media Criticism of Western Engagement in Africa
Soon after the conclusion of the Europe-Africa Summit in Brussels last week, Chinese media and scholars began to weigh in with their analysis of the gathering which, not surprisingly, was decidedly negative. All week, there've been a number ...
Africa’s Newest Chinese-financed Political Training Academy Opens in Tanzania
Chinese ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian joined President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Wednesday to open a new political training academy located outside of Dar es Salaam. But unlike similar Chinese-financed academies in South Africa and Ethiopia that are primarily country-specific, ...
China Names Veteran Diplomat Xue Bing to Newly Created Role of Special Envoy For the Horn of Africa
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that senior diplomat Xue Bing, most recently the ambassador to the South Pacific island state of Papua New Guinea (PNG), will be China's first Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa. Xue's appointment ...
Lai Mohammed: Even Without Chinese Financing, Nigeria Won’t Give Up Building New Railways
It's beginning to settle in among Nigeria's governing class that once abundant Chinese railway financing is no more. Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi was the first to acknowledge the new reality earlier this month when he told the Guardian newspaper (Nigeria) that the country's future railway ...
Now You Can Read the Chinese Business Association in Zimbabwe’s Plan in English on How to Resolve Feud With Civil Society Groups
The Chamber of Chinese Enterprises in Zimbabwe published an English-language version of its 9-point plan on how to resolve the months-long dispute with civil society groups over reports of widespread labor and environmental violations. And just as the Chinese embassy in ...
It’s Been Five Years Since South Africa Started Selling Beef to the Chinese and They Still Don’t Know What They’re Doing, Says Expert
South Africa was among the first, and still one of the few African countries that has been allowed to export beef to China but today, five years later, SA ranchers still don't understand the Chinese market according Dong Wang, director of the China Marketing Solutions consultancy.
Envisioning a “Non-China-Centric” U.S. Foreign Policy Towards Africa
U.S. foreign policy towards Africa has been adrift for years, even decades, as Washington focused its attention on wars in West Asia, confrontations in the Persian Gulf, and a much-hyped Pivot to Asia. In fact, it's been 19 years since the launch of the
Ummm… Errr…. Sorry, Apple Can’t Produce iPhones in Africa
The suggestion by a Washington, D.C. lobbying firm that "there is no reason why Apple cannot produce iPhones in Africa instead of China" is the latest evidence of just how delusional the discourse in the U.S. capital is today.
The Largest Chinese Business Association in Zimbabwe Looks For a Way Out of the Current Stand-off With Civil Society Groups
The largest Chinese business association in Zimbabwe that's been at the center of a bitter dispute with a coalition of 27 civil society groups published a lengthy proposal this week that listed a detailed set of recommendations for how its members can bring an end to the ...