Author: Eric Olander
Eric Olander is the co-founder of the China Global South Project (CAP), 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 Pair of Chinese Provinces Move to Boost Ties With Kenya, Rwanda
One of the big misperceptions about China's economic engagement in Africa is that the central government in Beijing and its state-owned enterprises are the only Chinese actors on the continent. A pair of announcements this week highlight the large and growing role that Chinese provinces play in ...
Gyude Moore: “The Coming Decade of Chinese Dominance in Africa”
China and Africa will increasingly lean into one another in the decade ahead but for starkly different reasons, argues Gyude Moore in a provocative new column published today in African Business Magazine. Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for ...
Larry Hanauer: A Withdrawal of U.S. Military Staff in Africa Will Only Benefit China
U.S. President Donald Trump is widely expected to enact a significant drawdown of U.S. forces in South Asia, the Mideast, and in Africa, before he leaves office next January, according to a report today in The New York Times.
It’s Long Been Suspected That Few People in Africa Actually Consume Chinese Media, Now There’s Research to Prove It
Chinese media outlets have been steadily expanding in Africa over the past ten years. Beijing has spent millions to build new production facilities, hire hundreds of local and international staff, and spent big on content distribution deals across the continent. But ...
Guangzhou: Home to a New Generation of Afro-Chinese Children
Six months after the dramatic events that took place in Guangzhou where dozens, possibly hundreds of African residents were evicted from their homes and hotels, the South China Morning Post returned to the southern Chinese city to examine what daily life is like in the bustling African ...
With China on Their Minds, Zambia’s Bondholders Reject Appeal for Repayment Extension
Zambia on Saturday became the first African country this year to default on a portion of its debt after a coalition of bondholders refused the government's request for a 6-month repayment holiday. The government said it cannot pay the $42.5 million ...
Debt Crisis? What Debt Crisis? In China, There’s No Coverage or Commentary About Zambia
It appears that China's censors have moved to restrict media coverage of the ongoing debt crisis in Zambia. A search of major news sites, the market-leading Baidu search engine, and the social media platform Weibo came back with no results related to current events unfolding in the ...
Analysts Differ on What Happened in Zambia and China’s Role in the Burgeoning Debt Crisis
The refusal by a coalition of Zambia's bondholders to provide the government with a 6-month repayment holiday on $3 billion of Eurobond notes followed by the subsequent default on those debts, sparked a considerable reaction in Africa and internationally -- but none among Chinese stakeholders.
Letter to the Editor: The Zambian Debt Crisis as Seen by a “Concerned Citizen”
Hi Eric and Cobus, Being a Zambian living in Zambia, I've observed with interest your coverage of the looming credit default by Zambia on its debt repayments to bondholders. You've mostly looked at it in the context of the COVID-19 induced ...
What Happens if Zambia Defaults on Its Debt To China and Other Lenders?
BBC Africa journalist Jameisha Prescod produced a short, five-minute explainer on what Zambia can expect next, following its announcement that it would be unable to meet a Saturday repayment deadline on $3 billion of Eurobond notes owed to private investors. Prescod ...
Understanding the True Extent of Zambia’s Total Debt
There's been a lot of confusion in recent weeks about just how much Zambia owes its creditors. Most international news coverage focuses on the amount of external debt, believed to be around $12 billion, but that's less than half of what the country owes when other creditors ...
While Zambia’s Financial Crisis Unfolded on Friday, President Edgar Lungu and Ambassador Li Jie Visited a Blueberry Farm
In a somewhat odd bit of optics, two central players in Zambia's simmering economic crisis, President Edgar Lungu and Chinese ambassador Li Jie, were seen together on Friday inspecting a blueberry farm in Lusaka's Chongwe district. Neither seemed visibly concerned about ...