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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Daily Nation Columnist: Africans Shouldn’t Worry About Chinese Loans as Much as Chinese Organized Crime in Their Countries
Anti-fraud consultant Michael Kuria says he's not worried about Chinese loans to Kenya. If Kenya defaults on their debts to Beijing, he writes in today's Daily Nation newspaper, well, that's China's problem. "I trust that they are smart enough to know not to throw good money after ...
Q&A: Chinese Sales of Surveillance Technology to African Governments is Understandably Worrisome but in no way Exceptional
The recent Wall Street Journal investigation that revealed Huawei employees allegedly aided the Ugandan and Zambian governments to spy on political opponents confirmed, in many peoples' minds, the suspicions about Huawei and how the company presents a viable threat to civil rights, particularly in non-democratic societies. ...
Podcast Transcript: Will China Come to the Rescue of South Africa’s Ailing Energy Giant Eskom?
Eric: Hello and welcome to another edition of the China in Africa podcast. I'm Eric Olander and as always I'm joined by Cobus Van Staden, senior China Africa Researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, South Africa. ...
Will China Come to the Rescue of South Africa’s Ailing Energy Giant Eskom?
South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom is in dire straits. The electric power company now has more than $30 billion of debt and its current revenue no longer provides enough money to cover daily operational costs. Now, as a result of ...
Huawei VP: WSJ Allegations of Spying in Africa Is Just “Fake News”
"Fake news" is how Huawei's vice president of strategy, Andrew Williamson, characterized last week's Wall Street Journal story on alleged spying in Uganda and Zambia. He made the comments in an interview with the state-led Russia Today television network. It's Fascinating ...
Ambassador David Shinn Shares His Views on Direction of China-Africa Security Ties
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, David Shinn, who is now an adjunct professor at George Washington University, is widely regarded as one of the leading experts on China-Africa military relations. In this talk at the U.S. Department of Defense-funded Africa Center for ...
Japan Starts to Push the “High Quality” Line to Differentiate Its Infrastructure in Africa from China’s
With the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) coming up in two weeks, the pre-summit messaging coming from the Japanese government indicates that it plans to use this event to highlight the differences its approach to infrastructure development on the continent from that of the ...
China’s New Approach to Public Diplomacy in Africa
Chinese diplomatic missions in Africa have long had a reputation for being inaccessible, even unapproachable. Ambassadors often shied away from unscripted public events, journalists seeking any kind of comment were largely brushed away and engagement with local NGOs and civil society ...
Huawei Staff Help Governments to Spy on People: WSJ Investigation
On the ground in Uganda, Wall Street Journal reporters uncovered how Chinese telecom giant Huawei is providing surveillance tools that African governments use to stifle dissent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fk7LV_IcXc ...
Q&A: How Will Japan Differentiate Its Africa Development Policy from China’s
The seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development will take place in Yokohoma on August 29th where delegates from 54 African countries and international organizations are expected to attend. Some of the key themes that are expected to emerge from this year's summit are already starting to ...
China Jumps Back Into the Fight Against Ebola in Africa
The Chinese government is preparing to send medical personnel to South Sudan and Uganda in a bid to contain the spread of the Ebola virus that is currently ravaging parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since the Chinese ...
In Africa, China Is the News
China's soft power projection in Africa is radically different from that of other countries, like the U.S. or France, where movies, music, and culture are used to foster support and allegiance. Even the Chinese realize that no matter how hard ...