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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A U.S. and European observers often wonder why African leaders have so thoroughly embraced engagement with China despite warnings of predatory lending, cyber espionage and so forth. In many policy circles, there's genuine confusion as to why the Western offer isn't more appealing and largely unable to ...
Concerns Over Sinopharm’s Efficacy Prompts Some in UAE to Over-Vaccinate
Reports that the Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine may be faltering against the onslaught of the Delta variant is prompting some in countries like the United Arab Emirates to re-vaccinate using a stronger vaccine-like Pfizer's. But UAE public health officials are strenuously ...
Namibia Runs Out of Vaccines Just as the Third Wave Hits
Nowhere in Africa is the virus spreading faster today than in Namibia, where the government is running out of vaccines just as infections are spiking. With just 0.8% of the population inoculated, public health authorities have halted inoculations and is using what remains of its supply of ...
2/3 of All Chinese Vaccines Sold or Donated to Africa Have Gone to Just Three Countries
Two-thirds of the 23.8 million vaccines that China has sold or donated in Africa to date have gone to just three countries: Morocco: 9.5 million Egypt: 4.15 million Zimbabwe: 2.4 million This ...
Ethiopian PM Opens New Chinese-Funded Leadership Academy in Addis Ababa
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed opened a new Chinese-funded training academy intended to support business and political leaders. China covered $34 million of the $50 million construction budget to build the new African Leadership Excellence Academy, the latest ...
Third Wave Sweeps Across Africa as Scarce Vaccine Supplies Run Out
A number of countries throughout Africa are exhausting their limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines just as a devastating third wave of the virus sweeps across the continent. Africa is by no means alone. Dozens of developing countries in other parts of ...
Will Chinese Vaccines Hold Up Against the Delta Variant? That Depends on Who You Trust.
The rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus in Indonesia is prompting growing concern that the Chinese vaccines the country's now reliant on may not be up to the challenge. The Indonesian Medical Association reports that 10 of the ...
Policy Brief: China Now Among Key Factors Complicating U.S. Foreign Policy in the Sahel
The growing presence of "malign Chinese and Russian activities and influence" is one of three key factors complicating U.S. foreign policy in the Sahel Region of Africa, according to a new policy brief from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. ...
A Chinese Woman Gets a Ceremonial Chieftancy in Nigeria and the Internet Goes Berserk
A well-known Nigerian chieftain in Lagos bestowed honorary chieftaincy titles on three foreign nationals and nine Nigerians earlier this month to commend them for their contributions to economic development in Lagos and Nigeria as a whole. The story largely ...
Tanzania President Hassan is Talking to the Chinese Again About a Port Deal in Bagamoyo. But She Might Be Too Late.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan took everyone by surprise late last week when she announced that long-stalled talks with China about expanding the port of Bagamoyo are being resumed. Negotiations over a multi-billion dollar port deal with China Merchant Holdings (CMH) famously ...
Week in Review: Chinese Hostages Freed in Nigeria & China Cuts Oil Buys From African Suppliers
Chinese defense contractors are making further inroads into the Angolan market. The state-owned China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) signed an $85 million deal to provide the Angolan defense sector with a “supply of equipment, military means and assistance services.” CATIC is already a big player ...
Nigerian House Representative Endorses Chinese-Style Social Media Regulation
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is getting support from his ruling party allies in the House of Representatives to further the crackdown on social media and introduce even stricter "Chinese-style" regulations. "In China, social media is being regulated and such a thing ...