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.
Related Posts
Tweet of the Day: 2020 is Likely Going to be the Year When the Tiny Kingdom of eSwatini Becomes a Big International Relations Issue
eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is not a country that often registers as an important player in major global disputes but from the looks of it that may change in 2020. The Kingdom is now the last country in Africa that formally recognizes Taiwan and that has ...
Prices for African Exports to China Fall Precipitously, While the Cost of Chinese Imports Surges
The dramatic economic slowdown underway now in China due to the COVID-19 outbreak is acutely felt now across Africa's economies in ways both large and small. Given the close economic ties between China and the overwhelming majority of African countries, the scale of the impact is expected ...
Rumors, Fear and Panic About COVID-19 Becoming Increasingly Pervasive in Some Rural Communities in Kenya
Anger and suspicions towards Chinese nationals in rural Kenya, many of who are workers on various infrastructure projects, are rising amid fears they're infected with the deadly COVID-19 virus. Last week, there were widespread reports of a Sinohydro employee who purportedly returned from China infected with Novel ...
With the Help of an Emoji, the Kenyan Government Reaffirms it Will Not Evacuate Students From Wuhan
The spokesperson for the Kenyan government took to Twitter on Friday to make it as clear as possible that the administration will not evacuate students from the epicenter of the virus in Wuhan, China. There's been a raging debate on what ...
African Health Ministers Convene Emergency AU Meeting to Coordinate Responses to COVID-19
The African Union convened an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss a coordinated continental response to the burgeoning COVID-19 crisis. Dozens of health ministers from across Africa were joined by leaders from the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World ...
The China-Mediterranean Observer: Growing Chinese Concern Over Instability in Libya
Every month, CAP features analysis from the ChinaMed Project, a joint research initiative by the Center for Mediterranean Area Studies of Peking University and the Torino World Affairs Institute, part of the TOChina Hub developed by the University of Torino.
Africa Not Prepared to Deal With the Consequences of Economic Disruption in China
The Chinese economy is undergoing unprecedented economic disruption due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and African countries are largely unprepared for the impact that it's going to have on their economies. The prices of most major commodities oil, timber, copper that ...
One of Africa’s Largest Telecom Operators Sends Clear Message to the U.S. About Huawei: We’re Going to Use Them for 5G, Now Leave Us Alone
Michael Joseph, the acting CEO of Kenya's Safaricom, one of Africa's largest mobile operators, really could not have been more clear about his company decision as to whether or not it plans to use Huawei equipment in their upcoming 5G rollout. He confirmed that the company will ...
China’s Ambassador to South Africa: Pompeo Stuck in the Cold War With an “Outdated, Zero-Sum Mentality”
China's outspoken ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, held a press conference this week that was broadcast live on South African TV from the embassy in Pretoria. The media briefing was presumably intended to provide updates on China's efforts to contain the COVD-19 outbreak at home and ...
China Loomed Large Over Pompeo’s Africa Tour, Burying His Message About Enhanced U.S. Engagement
U.S. Secretary of State really seemed like he made a conscientious effort to go out of his to avoid referencing China on his recent three-nation African tour that ended yesterday in Addis Ababa. For years, going all the way back to the days when Hillary Clinton was ...
Outrage, Fury and Sadness Over Yet Another Racist Chinese Video Featuring African Children
Chinese and African vloggers are responding with fury and sadness to the emergence of yet another racist video online that purportedly shows an off-camera Chinese producer instructing African children in an unknown country to say racist and demeaning phrases in Chinese.
Rumors of an Infected Chinese Worker in Kenya Persist Despite Embassy Denials
The Chinese embassy in Nairobi's efforts to dispel rumors that a Chinese national infected with COVID-19 bribed his way past health screenings at the airport in Nairobi and made his way to a Sinohydro worksite in southwestern Kenya appear to be failing.