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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Rwandan President Paul Kagame Channels the Growing Outrage in Africa Over Vaccine Hoarding by Wealthy Countries
There's a real disconnect in how people in the Global North and South are framing the vaccine inequity crisis. In the U.S., Europe, and Japan, the bulk of the news coverage on the issue focuses on the impact of Chinese and ...
Spokesman: International Financial Institutions and Foreign Creditors Have More Responsibility Than China to Alleviate Africa’s Debt Pressures
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China is not to blame for the burgeoning financial problems in Africa. " Not a single African country had debt difficulties due to its cooperation with China," he said in response to a question from Hunan Radio and ...
In Africa, Chinese Diplomats Actively Promote Their Side of the Xinjiang Story — Even in Muslim Majority Countries
While in the U.S. and Europe Xinjiang is a highly contentious issue, that's not the case in most of Africa, even in Muslim-majority countries like Chad, where Chinese public diplomacy is very active in projecting Beijing's narrative on the issue. SUGGESTED ...
Ian Taylor, Pioneering China-Africa Scholar, Dies at 52
Scholars around the world are mourning the untimely passing of acclaimed China-Africa researcher Ian Taylor. The University of St. Andrews professor was widely regarded as among the most thoughtful, provocative scholars in the field. In addition to his position at St. Andrews, Professor Taylor also held appointments ...
Change in Guangzhou’s African Diaspora Community
April 11th will mark the one-year anniversary of what's become known as "the Guangzhou Incident" when dozens, possibly hundreds of African residents in the southern Chinese city were evicted from their homes and hotels. Chinese officials denied that Black and African ...
With Major Repayments to China Coming Due, Kenya’s Debt Servicing Costs Gobble Up More of the National Budget
Beginning in July, Kenya's debt repayment will cross the psychologically important barrier of 1 trillion shillings ($9.15 billion), according to the National Treasury, prompting renewed concerns over the country's ability to sustain a debt portfolio that has doubled in size since 2017.
Analyst: Nigeria on the Cusp of a Debt Crisis, But Loans From China Not to Blame
The Nigerian Debt Management Office on Monday revealed that it has $5.8 billion of borrowed money on its books that it hasn't disbursed. This prompted new worries among some financial analysts that the actual debt-to-GDP ratio has surpassed 100%, meaning that the country has taken on so ...
Chinese Financing to Latin America Fell to Zero in 2020, Providing a Cautionary Tale For Africa and Other Developing Regions
There's new evidence of the dramatic plunge in Chinese overseas development finance. Researchers in the United States found that for the first time in more than a decade, China's two largest policy banks, the China Development Bank and the China Exim Bank, did not ...
China to Provide Egypt With an Additional 300,000 Doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine
Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed announced that China will provide an additional 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Egypt in the coming days, the second such donation in as many months. But the Chinese contribution is quite small relative to the 40 million jabs that ...
The Economist: Half of the World’s COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Has Been Reserved for Just 15% of The Population
The Economist produced a compelling visual image that highlights the stark inequity in COVId-19 vaccine distribution around the world and how a disproportionate quantity of jabs are being hoarded by wealthy countries in the Global North. Click ...
Chinese Foreign Ministry Issues a Rare, Albeit Bland, Statement on the Conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region
The Chinese government has been characteristically mute on the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia since fighting broke out last November. This is by no means surprising, given that the Chinese foreign ministry does its level best to avoid commenting on conflicts in other countries which it regards as the ...
It May Be Too Late For the U.S. and Europe to Catch Up With China’s Vaccine Distribution Drive in the Developing World
The reality that China and Russia together have distributed almost a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines lingered over Friday's virtual G7 summit. While attendees expressed concern about the unfair distribution of vaccines, ironically brought on by hoarding in their countries, the leaders from the ...