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.
Chinese National Caught on Video Beating Local Kenyan Employee Will Soon be Deported
Kenyan authorities moved quickly on Sunday to arrest four Chinese nationals who were allegedly involved in the beating of a local Kenyan employee at Chez Wuo, a hotel restaurant in Nairobi. Bystanders captured the caning by one of the Chinese men on a video and then posted ...
Al-Shabaab Militants Attack Chinese Construction Site in Kenya
Suspected Al-Shabaab militants launched an attack on a Chinese construction crew building the 135-kilometer Lamu-Garsen road in Kenya's Lamu county. Authorities say four heavily armed militants were involved in Sunday's incident that destroyed a cement truck and an excavator. There were ...
Is Africa Ready for the Arrival of the Coronavirus? Yes! No… Kind of… Maybe… Definitely Not
There are a lot of conflicting messages emerging now over whether African governments are sufficiently prepared to deal with the arrival of Novel Coronavirus should a confirmed case be detected on the continent. It's important to note that although public health ...
Coronavirus & Africa: Why We All Need to Worry About Kenya
While the deadly Novel Coronavirus rips through China devouring hundreds of victims and infecting tens of thousands, Africa, so far, has had the good fortune to not have a single confirmed case. Experts, though, are not confident that Africa will remain ...
South Africa’s Chinese Migrant Community Braces For Hostility and Racism in Response to Coronavirus Crisis
The coronavirus outbreak in China has sparked a wave of anti-Chinese racism in many countries around the world, prompting immigrant communities in places like Johannesburg to become increasingly concerned that old hostilities will resurface. South Africa's Eyewitness ...
Increasingly Desperate Cries for Help From Africans Left Behind in China
Kenya joins Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco in evacuating its citizens from the epicenter of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, but hundreds of other Africans, mostly students, are still there amid deteriorating conditions. Forced to remain inside their apartments, the ...
Even Before Coronavirus Makes it to Africa, The Economic Impact is Already Being Felt
The Novel Coronavirus has yet to make landfall in Africa, but it's already starting to cause real economic damage to a number of economies across the continent. Africa's commodity-exporting countries have become increasingly dependent on robust Chinese demand over the past 10-15 years and now that economic ...
Likelihood of a Coronavirus Outbreak in Africa is “Very Very High” Says WHO Official
Although there are still no confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus in Africa, World Health Organization officials believe that it is increasingly likely the deadly virus will make its way to the continent. WHO program manager for emergency operations in Africa Michel Yao said the chances are "very very ...
Kenyatta Addresses Coronavirus Crisis But Avoids Any Direct Criticism of Ethiopian Airlines’ Decision to Continue Direct Flights to China
The visiting Kenyan president acknowledged that Kenya lacks the resources that China has to battle the worsening Novel Coronavirus outbreak but he added that his government is doing everything possible to ...
Kenyatta Comes to Washington With a Simple, Blunt Message: Africa is Not Up for Grabs
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta began his visit to the United States on Wednesday with an urgent call to international leaders to stop thinking of Africa as a prize to be won. "Western countries, and their counterparts in Asia and the Middle East, are returned to competition over ...