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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Yes, of Course, China’s Using Vaccines to Boost Its Soft Power
A lot of people in the U.S. and Europe are really struggling to get their heads around the implications of China's increasingly successful vaccine distribution push in the developing world. On the one hand, there's often (but not always) a begrudging ...
Africa’s Most Indebted Countries Caught in a Vice Between Creditors and Credit Ratings Agencies
Chad, Zambia, and Ethiopia are among a growing number of African countries seeking debt relief under the G20's common framework (CF) and while that might provide some temporary relief, one of the world's largest credit ratings agencies warned on Tuesday that it's going to come at a ...
Kenya to Finally Extend the SGR to the Ugandan Border… Without Any Chinese Financing
Kenya's parliament approved funds to extend the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha in the Rift Valley all the way to Malaba on the border with Uganda. Several years ago, this extension was known as "SGR Phase 3." President Uhuru Kenyatta's requests for the financing of this phase ...
Zimbabwe to Kick Off Vaccination Drive Using Newly-Arrived Chinese Jabs
The Zimbabwe government will begin a national COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Thursday using the first batch of Chinese-made Sinopharm jabs that arrived in Harare on Monday. Health workers, police, and military personnel will be first to receive injections. ...
Landry Signé: The U.S. Can Catch Up to China in Africa…But It Has to Move Fast
A robust discussion is underway in Washington, D.C.'s think tank and policymaking circles over what the Biden administration's future Africa policy should look like. Although there's been no formal announcement of any new initiative, there does seem to be an emerging consensus that the disproportionate focus on ...
Counterpoint: Why Some in Africa Remain Frustrated With the U.S. and Choose to Embrace China Instead
While U.S. stakeholders are working to figure out what they want to do in Africa, they would be advised to listen carefully to some of the widely-held frustrations about America's less-than-supportive attitudes towards the continent over the years, which bubbled to the surface during the Trump administration. ...
UAE PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Tweets in Chinese to Congratulate Xi Jinping on Mars Mission
It's rare for the head of a foreign state to tweet in Chinese, but today the UAE's Sheikh Mohammed congratulated China, and President Xi Jinping specifically, on the Tianwen-1 spacecraft joining the Emirates' own Hope Probe in its orbit around Mars. ...
The Future of Chinese-Financed Infrastructure in Kenya
The China Road and Bridge Corporation is building a massive new half-a-billion dollar expressway right through the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. But this project is very different than previous Chinese-financed infrastructure initiatives in Kenya, like the ailing Standard ...
China’s Domestic Vaccine Drive Falls Behind as Beijing Exports More Jabs Abroad
China appears to be prioritizing international distribution of COVID-19 vaccines ahead of inoculating its own people, according to new data compiled by the South China Morning Post. The Hong Kong-based newspaper estimates that as of Monday, China has ...
With Chinese-Made Jabs in Hand, Zimbabwe to Kick Off National Vaccination Drive
200,000 doses of donated Chinese COVID-19 vaccines landed at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare on Monday, providing a badly-needed boost for the Zimbabwean government in its battle against the rapidly spreading virus. Another 600,000 doses are expected ...
Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama Reflects on Ties With China: We Are Not “Blind and Gullible”
Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama is the latest senior African stakeholder to push back against the accusation that China is taking advantage of Africa in general and his country in particular. "It is not totally accurate to make it sound as if we go into these relationships ...
China’s Commerce Ministry Formally Congratulates Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Her Appointment as New WTO Head
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Monday officially congratulated Nigerian-American Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her appointment to become the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization. This was widely expected given that Beijing was among Okonjo-Iweala's more enthusiastic supporters, particularly ...