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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The Future of Chinese Rail Financing in Africa
China famously lent billions of dollars to countries across Africa to build expensive, new railways. Nigeria, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya all used loans from Beijing to build new lines using a standard gauge (SGR) that will one day ...
China Says “Mission Accomplished” in COVID-19 Fight and Wants African Countries to Follow its Example
The Chinese propaganda machine in Africa is cranked all the way up. Newspapers, radio, TV, Twitter, Facebook, you name it, the Chinese are there with a big bold message: "WE DEFEATED COVID-19! WE'RE HELPING AFRICA! NOW SUCK IT AMERICA!" OK, that's somewhat interpretive, but you get the ...
Chinese Pay-TV Operator StarTimes’ New App Will Help You Determine if You’re Infected With COVID-19
Chinese-owned African pay-TV giant StarTimes launched a new service on its StarTimes ON platform that is intended to help users determine if they are infected with COVID-19. Think of this as a sort of pre-diagnosis. ...
David Ndii: “Coronavirus Will be the Final Nail in the Coffin of “Infrastructure-led Growth”
Economist David Ndii, one of Kenya's leading political economy thinkers, a popular columnist and a longtime critic of the government's policy of borrowing heavily from China to build infrastructure, conducted a fascinating hour-long interview with Kenyan philosopher Joseph Kabuthi ...
China Adds Paid Media to its Already Formidable Propaganda Arsenal in Africa
China added yet another channel to its propaganda media distribution network in Africa with paid editorial content in South Africa's leading financial newspaper Business Day. While paid Chinese editorial inserts are nothing new around the world (China Daily famously pays the New York Times, ...
With an Eye on China, South Africa Keeps Ports and Fishing Industry Open During Lockdown
While most South Africans are required to stay indoors during the ongoing 21-day lockdown to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, fishermen and dock-workers are still on the job. Both the seafood industry and the country's ports were deemed vital to the national economy and permitted to ...
Africans Worry About Quality of Donated Chinese COVID-19 Aid Following Reports of Defective Masks in Europe
Earlier this week I wrote a story about the reputational risks associated with China's so-called "Mask Diplomacy" initiative where it's donating millions of PPE to countries around the world. The basic premise of the story is that if everything goes well, then China wins, but ...
As South Africans Begin Their Lockdown Period, Compatriots Back in Wuhan Offer Some Advice on How to Cope
Now that the 114 South Africans who were evacuated from Wuhan last month have been cleared and allowed to return home, Eyewitness News interviewed a number of students and other expatriates who stayed behind in China to find out how they're coping with the difficulties of daily ...
China’s State Media Promotes Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine to Treat COVID-19 in Africa
Chinese official media is actively promoting the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine remedies in Africa to treat COVID-19 despite the fact that the WHO is on record ...
Rebound in Chinese Manufacturing Provides a Small, Badly Needed Boost to African Oil Prices
New data confirming that China's manufacturing sector is slowly coming back to life helped to give a badly needed boost to African commodity and currency prices on Tuesday. China's Purchasing Managers Index, a key metric that measures factory activity, jumped to ...
China’s COVID-19 Donation Spree Picks Up Pace in Africa
China's embassies across Africa are coordinating both public and private donations to local stakeholders battling the spread of COVID-19. The donations appear to be part of a larger Chinese strategy to raise Beijing's profile as a leading provider of humanitarian assistance, particularly to lesser developed countries.
China’s Not Getting Its Money Back from Africa Any Time Soon, So Why Not Take the Lead in Debt Relief?
As economic conditions worsen across the continent, it's becoming increasingly evident that African governments will not be able to service the tens of billions of dollars in debt they've taken on over the past decade. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and ...