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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What It Takes to Build a Successful Chinese Agricultural Partnership in Mozambique
One of the most prominent themes to emerge from all those Africa summits that take place around the world is the importance of replacing traditional aid programs with new private-sector-led trade and investment initiatives, specifically public-private partnerships (PPPs).
The COVID-19 Crisis is Rapidly Evolving From a Health Crisis to an Economic Crisis to a Governance Crisis for Some African Leaders
Largely spared of the serious health consequences from the COVID-19 outbreak around the world, the crisis in Africa is now rapidly evolving into an economic and now, increasingly, a political crisis as constituents in a number of African countries express frustration over how their governments have handled ...
Chinese Officials Are Now Trying to Reshape the COVID-19 Narrative: “Coronavirus is Not a China Virus”
Now that the COVID-19 infection rate in China is steadily declining and the government appears to be gaining some measure of control over the outbreak, officials in Beijing are now turning their attention to getting the domestic economy going again and to re-shaping ...
The #WuhanShake Makes it to Africa
The "Wuhan Shake" that's been trending on Twitter for the past few days has made its way from China all the way to the State House in Tanzania. After talks with National Convention for Construction and Reform leader Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad, rather than the customary handshake or embrace ...
This Week’s Viral Video of Two Chinese People Being Harassed in Kenya Sparks an Unusual Response on Twitter: Sympathy
A longer 30-second version of the viral video of two Chinese nationals being verbally accosted by a group of Kenyan men shouting "you're corona!" started to circulate on Twitter yesterday and provoked an unexpected response from Kenyan social media users... kindness and sympathy.
With No End in Sight, Livelihoods in Kenya Now at Risk Due to COVID-19 Trade Crisis
With China's factories and ports still struggling to get back up to speed, the massive disruptions to the global supply chain are being felt disproportionately among small-to-medium-sized enterprises in countries like Kenya. Inventories are running so low now in a rapidly ...
It’s Official: South Africa Is in Recession and COVID-19 Is Making Things Much Worse
The South African government confirmed what investors had long suspected: the economy slipped into recession at the end of last year. New GDP data released on Tuesday by Stats SA reveals the economy is officially in recession and growing at the slowest rate since the financial crisis ...
While South Africans Prepare to Evacuate, China’s Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe Tells Anxious Parents It’s Better Their Kids Remain in Wuhan
China's Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zhao Baogang, convened a meeting with the parents of students currently stuck in Wuhan at the embassy in Harare on Tuesday. Amid reports of dwindling food supplies and worsening mental health conditions confronting many of the students under quarantine, the parents are ...
“Evacuation Details Under Wraps so We Can’t Spill It to the Media”
The 151 South Africans who have signed up to be evacuated from Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, are anxiously awaiting details about when the operation will take place. At present, they don't even have basic information, for example when they're expected to be at the ...
Isolated, Alienated and Stigmatized in Kenya
One day, hopefully soon, scientists will find a cure for COVID-19 and things will start to get back to normal. Planes will start to fly, ports will reopen and people on both sides will try to get back to where they were just a couple of months ...
South African Agriculture Struggles Amid COVID-19 Trade Disruptions
John Purchase, CEO of the South African agriculture chamber of commerce, Agbiz, spoke with CNBC on Monday about the impact that worsening trade disruptions are having on the local agricultural sector. Purchase said farmers are already starting to experience financial losses, particularly since products like the grapes ...
Chinese in Kenya Face Stigmatization and Discrimination Due to COVID-19
Chinese expatriates in Kenya and other African countries are becoming increasingly stigmatized by local populations fearful of contracting COVID-19. In major cities, ethnic Chinese people of all nationalities say they're confining themselves to their homes to avoid increasingly common confrontations. So ...