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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U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion to the Sudanese and Israeli prime ministers in a call last weekend that Egypt might "blow up" the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam if Cairo and Addis Ababa can't reach a settlement, is not sitting well at all in Ethiopia. ...
Researcher: U.S. Efforts Against Russia and China in Algeria Not Showing a Lot of Progress
Oxford University Russia scholar Samuel Ramani is closely following Algeria's recent talks with the U.S., China and Russia and observed that Washington is making much headway in discouraging Algiers from distancing itself from its two rivals. Ramani regularly comments on Russia-China-Africa issues ...
If Europe Wants to Remain Relevant in Africa, It Has to Show Up
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, declared this week that 2021 is going to be “the Africa year for the European Union!” Yes, this is the same Josep Borrell who back in March
18 Days and Counting Until Zambia’s D-Day (aka Debt Day)
In less than three weeks, a group of Zambian bondholders, mostly in New York and London, will reconvene to vote on whether or not to approve Lusaka's request for a six-month repayment holiday on about $3 billion of Eurobond notes that are coming due. ...
Zambia Stands to Benefit From Rising Copper Prices Due to Heightened Chinese Demand
While Zambia tries to figure out how if/how it plans to restructure its $12 billion debt portfolio, government coffers stand to benefit from resurgent copper prices, a major source of export earnings. The price of copper recently ...
Analyst: Zambia Owes More Than Double the $12 Billion to China and Other External Creditors
Zambia owes $27 billion to external creditors rather than the $12 billion figure that is widely circulated in the media, according to Brad Setser's reading of World Bank data on external debt. Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, explained in ...
Chinese Envoy Pushes Back Against U.S. Criticism of Chinese Lending Practices in Africa
China's ambassador to South Africa, Chen Xiaodong, took a swipe at U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien's recent accusations that Chinese loans to African governments are predatory. Even though the event where O'Brien made the comments took place ...
China Singles Out the U.S. in Call to Remove Sanctions on Zimbabwe
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian called out the United States for its role in maintaining international sanctions on Zimbabwe, especially during the pandemic. "The few countries and organizations, such as the United States, should lift illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe as soon as possible,"
Conservation Group Reports “Appalling” Human Rights Violations Aboard Chinese-Owned Fishing Trawlers in Ghana
The London-based conservation group Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) published a damning report on Monday that details "appalling" human rights violations aboard Chinese-owned fishing trawlers that operate in Ghanaian waters. The report details extensive exploitation of local crew members by Chinese managers ...
One of the World’s Foremost Scholars on Race and Racism in Afro-Chinese Relations Uses YouTube to Deliver an Innovative Lecture to His Students
Lingnan University (Hong Kong) Assistant Professor Roberto Castillo is widely regarded to be among the world's foremost scholars on Africa-China race relations. With his students all stuck at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Professor Castillo decided to try something different than the usual Zoom ...
How COVID-19 is Impacting the Africa-Asia Wildlife Trade
Amid the shutdowns in both Asia and Africa due to the COVID-19 outbreak there've been serious disruptions to the illegal wildlife trade between the two continents. But even though it's been harder to get African wildlife products to markets in China, ...