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.
Related Posts
3 Reasons Why Ghana Should be Anxious About China’s Entry Into The Cocoa Market
Months after news broke that China had entered into the global cocoa market with an initial delivery of 500 kilograms of beans shipped to Belgium from the southern island of Hainan, Ghanaians are still trying to figure out whether they have reason to be ...
Two Senegalese Tourists Banned From Visiting the Great Wall of China After Venturing Into Restricted Areas
A pair of Senegalese tourists visiting the Great Wall last month learned a lesson of what happens in China when you break the rules. The two ventured into "wild" and "undeveloped" areas of the wall that are off-limits to visitors and were quickly apprehended. ...
The Seychelles Is the New Focal Point to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Chinese-Made Vaccines
A new wave of COVID-19 infections is sweeping across the tiny Indian Ocean island of The Seychelles. This wasn't supposed to happen. With nearly 60% of its people vaccinated, The Seychelles has a higher inoculation rate than any other country and was widely presumed ...
Chinese State Propaganda’s Vaccine Messaging Has Become Noticeably More Aggressive After Receiving WHO Certification
Although Chinese domestic media was noticeably quiet last weekend about the news that Sinopharm had been granted emergency use approval by the World Health Organization, that's definitely not the case with foreign facing propaganda. The nationalistic tabloid outlet Global ...
The New, Upgraded Chinese-Built Port in Lamu is Ready To Go
Kenya's National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani personally inspected the new port facilities in Lamu and gave it his blessing ahead of the first ship that is scheduled to dock there on May 20th.
South African Telco CEO Ralph Mupita is Looking to China For Both Ideas and Cash
Ralph Mupita, head of the largest pan-African telecom group MTN, wants his South Africa-based telco to draw inspiration and attract more investment from China. On the investment side, Mupita recently partnered with the Chinese state-back Silk Road Fund that funnels ...
Kenya’s State-Run Broadcaster Looks More and More Like an Outlet For Chinese Propaganda
Chinese propaganda and highly partisan pro-Chinese columns are now being published with more regularity on the website of Kenya's state-run broadcaster KBC. The articles adopt a stridently pro-Chinese stance, using much of the same language as official propaganda in China would ...
The Chinese Embassy in Uganda Engages in Some Unusual Social Media Marketing
If you happen to know your Communist Chinese history, specifically how long the "War to Resist the U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea lasted for" then you could win a prize from the Chinese embassy in Uganda.
Shenzhen-Based Transsion Targets South African Youth Market With New Low-Priced Offering
The Chinese-owned African mobile phone giant Transsion is targeting South Africa's youth market with the launch of the Vision1 Pro smartphone from its Itel brand -- a 6.5-inch waterproof device that costs around $120. Although Transsion's suite of brands dominates the ...
WHO’s Approval of Sinopharm Will be a Game Changer in the Global Vaccine Distribution Contest… Just Not Right Away
The World Health Organization endorsed the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from Sinopharm and cleared the way for the Chinese jab to significantly increase its distribution throughout the developing world. The WHO on Friday approved the vaccine for emergency use which means that ...
Kenya’s High Court Overturns Ban on Donkey Slaughter, Clearing the Way For More Skins to Be Sold to China
Kenya's High Court on Friday overturned a February 2020 government directive that outlawed the slaughter of donkeys. The court's ruling will now allow for slaughterhouses to re-open and the resumption of the animal's meat trade.
Lots of Concern This Weekend That Debris From an Out of Control Chinese Rocket Was Going to Land in Africa
There was palpable anxiety across a number of African countries this weekend that pieces of a Chinese rocket that hurtled back to earth were going to land somewhere in their countries. Newspapers in Ghana, Nigeria and Namibia, among others, fretted about the prospect of falling rocket shrapnel. ...