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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As Angola Gets Debt Relief From Its Creditors, Kenya Hopes For the Same From China
Yesterday marked the first major development we've seen on the debt story in Africa in quite some time. The fact that Angola was the beneficiary was significant, given its outsized position in China's loan portfolio on the continent. Angola alone makes ...
The Team at Boston University Provides a Fresh Reminder That the World’s Chinese Debt Problem is Concentrated in About 10 Countries
Boston University's Global Development Policy Center published a new infographic that reveals the unequal distribution of Chinese debt around the world. They found that 10 countries account for 60% of China's global development finance. This is especially true in Africa where Angola ...
With New Lockdowns in South Africa Threatening to Slow Cobalt Exports to China, Prices For the Strategically Important Metal Are Going Up
Investors are becoming increasingly worried that South Africa's recent decision to close 20 land ports will adversely impact the flow of cobalt from mines in the DR Congo to customers in China. President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday announced a series of new lockdown measures in an effort ...
China Evolves Its Language That Frames Its Engagement in Africa
The China Media Project (CMP), an independent research organization affiliated with the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong, published an interesting analysis today on how Chinese propaganda is evolving the language (in Chinese) used to ...
China’s Vaccine Push in Developing Countries Suffers Setback After Brazillian Tests Reveal Sinovac’s Shot Only 50% Effective
China's ambitious global drive to provide developing countries with affordable COVID-19 vaccines suffered a major setback on Tuesday following new test results from Brazil that revealed Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine to be only 50% effective. The findings from the ...
Angola Gets Some Badly-Needed “Breathing Space” From China on Debt Repayments
Chinese creditors have reportedly agreed to grant Angola a three-year debt repayment moratorium, according to the West African country's finance minister Vera Daves de Sousa. Angola is by far China's largest borrower in Africa with an estimated $20 billion of outstanding loans from the ...
Gyude Moore: Disappointed that Chinese FM Wang Yi Avoided Talking About the Debt Crisis in Certain African Countries During His Recent Tour
During his five-nation Africa tour last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not focus much attention on the ongoing debt crisis in the handful of countries on the continent that have borrowed heavily from Chinese creditors. That was very disappointing to some observers, including Gyude Moore, ...
China’s Risky “Build It and They Will Come” Development Strategy
There's widespread speculation that Chinese financial support for its hugely ambitious Belt and Road Initiative may be waning due to the current economic crisis and the desire among senior Chinese policymakers to focus more attention on the domestic front. ...
China Steadily Lessens Dependence on U.S. Market With More Exports Going to Asia; Africa, LatAm Far Behind
Chinese Foreign Minister kicked off a four-nation tour of Southeast Asia in Myanmar on Monday where he met with newly re-elected President Win Myint (photo) and Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the de facto head of the government and leader of the ruling National League for Democracy party. ...
Will China Ever Look to Africa as a Manufacturing Destination?
"Made in China" once represented the lowest-cost manufacturing in the world. Not anymore. Labor costs have been steadily rising, environmental regulations are much stricter now, and, as of last year, Chinese products exported to the U.S. come with expensive tariffs.
Wang Yi Wrapped Up Africa Tour With a Quick Stopover in The Seychelles Before Heading Back to Asia
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up his annual tour to Africa on Saturday with a quick stopover in the Indian Ocean island state of Seychelles, before heading back to Asia. During his half-day visit to Victoria, Wang met with Foreign Minister Sylvestre Radegonde and later with ...
President Magufuli Thanked Wang For Not Wearing a Mask During His Visit to Tanzania
COVID-19 mask politics found its way into Chinese FM Wang Yi's recent visit to Tanzania when President John Magafuli thanked Wang for not wearing a mask to showcase the fact that the pandemic is purportedly under control there. Wang appeared to ...