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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The DR Congo Government Now Has Sicomines in its Sights as the Investigation Into Chinese Mining Contracts Advances
The Congolese government started its review of Chinese mining contracts trying to land a big fish, by launching a commission to investigate China Molybdenum's massive Tenke Fungurume (TFM) cobalt and copper mine in southern Lualaba Province. Now, the government ...
China’s Ambassador to the DRC Tries to Calm Tensions in Meeting With Mining Minister
Chinese ambassador to the DR Congo, Zhu Jing, paid a visit on Friday to Minister of Mines N'samba Kalambayi in an effort to calm rising tensions over videos depicting abuse of local employees, illegal mining activity and environmental ...
In Characteristically Bombastic Fashion, PRC Embassy Says Chinese Companies in the DRC Are the Victims of “Rumors and Slander”
The Chinese embassy in Kinshasa rallied to the defense of its embattled mining companies in the DRC, blaming recent controversies on "individuals who have fabricated stories and spread false information to attack and denigrate, without scruple and without any foundation, Chinese companies to incite hostility."
Zambia’s New Finance Minister Says a Deal With the IMF is Key, Avoids Any Mention of Chinese Debt
Zambia's newly-named finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said he's going to prioritize closing a restructuring deal with the International Monetary Fund because it would give creditors confidence and the government cheaper and longer-term financing. Musokotwane was appointed on Friday (the second ...
MSA Capital is the Chinese VC Firm to Watch When it Comes to Investing in African Start-Ups
Announcing yet another early-stage Africa-focused company being backed by the Beijing-based MSA Capital is becoming a monthly ritual. African mobile money start-up PawaPay is the latest to attract MSA Capital financing as part of a $9 million seed round.
The African Union Is the Latest International Organization to Receive COVID-19 Donations From China
The African Union Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Bankole Adeoye, took delivery late last week of a batch of 15,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated by the Chinese government. Chen Xufeng, the chargé d'affaires at the Chinese mission to the AU, said the vaccines were intended ...
Uganda Set to Receive More Chinese COVID Vaccines
Chinese ambassador Zhang Lizhong and Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo announced on Friday that China would provide a second shipment of 300,000 vaccines. It's not clear from the announcement if the vaccines will be sold or donated. The first batch delivered in July was delivered ...
Q&A: Why Now? The Domestic Politics Driving the DRC’s Review of Chinese Mining Contracts
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi is fulfilling the promise he made last May to investigate foreign mining contracts to ensure they are fair and equitable. While the President did not single out the Chinese specifically, they're no doubt going to be disproportionately impacted given their outsized role in ...
Week in Review: Doses, Detainees and Diplomacy
Interpol has canceled the red notice arrest warrant requested by China for Uyghur activist Yidiresi Aishan, who was detained in Morocco last month. The red notice flagging Aishan as a member of “terrorist” organizations, and issued at China’s request, led Moroccan authorities to detain the 33-year-old computer ...
New Trends in Chinese Energy & Development Finance
U.S. special climate envoy John Kerry will be in China next week to pressure the government to renounce all future financing of coal power plants around the world. Although China generally does not respond well to foreign demands like ...
Chinese Mining Giant Denies Media Reports Its Mining Contracts in the DRC Are Under Investigation
China Molybdenum Co. (aka China Moly), the world's second-largest copper and cobalt mining company, has denied reports that its contracts for the massive Tenke Fungurume Mine (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are now under review by the government in Kinshasa. There is no "so-called investigation,"
New Paper Calls For the Creation of a China-Africa Digital Currency Trading Hub
With cryptocurrencies becoming more popular around the world, China is now moving quickly to establish its own digital currency as a global standard, particularly in emerging markets like Africa where the mobile payment sector is booming. Early on, Beijing outlawed the ...