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
China & Africa: Getting to Know Each Other
China’s embrace of Africa has produced some stunning statistics. The numbers look great pretty much across the board.From trade volumes to foreign investment to the growing popularity of Chinese ministerial junkets, the data all looks great. No, in fact, ...
Why China Will Not Dominate FDI in Gabon
Gabon is that tiny country along the central west Africa that is often overlooked by its larger, more controversial and considerably more powerful neighbors. With only 1.5 million people, Gabon is one of Africa’s smallest countries. Along with its modest population, Gabon also maintains a low-profile. Rarely does it make ...
India & China Compete in Africa
Africa is now the latest front in an increasingly global competition between India and China for new markets, agricultural land and access to natural resources. While Western media and politicians have reacted with varying degrees of alarm over the surge of Chinese trade and investment in Africa, Indian companies have ...
The Chinese Winning Hearts, Minds and Wallets in Africa
In this edition of the “China in Africa” podcast, host Eric Olander speaks with Africa scholar Dr. David Robinson, Phd. of Western Australia’s Edith Cowan University about his recent article “Hearts, Minds and Wallets: Lessons from ...
China in Africa: Who is Michael Sata?
https://soundcloud.com/chinatalkingpoints/china-in-africa-podcast-who-is-michael-sata Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata has emerged as a central character in the story of China’s engagement with Africa. He has become a staple of the mainstream media’s coverage of ...
3 Lessons France Can Offer China About Government-Run Media
Both China and France share a common frustration with the international media and that their country’s “story” is not being accurately conveyed via the CNNs, BBCs and Al Jazeeras of the world. After years of bitterly complaining about the injustices of international (read ...
The Future of the Tanzam Railway
https://soundcloud.com/chinatalkingpoints/china-in-africa-podcast-the-future-of-the-tanzam-railway In this edition of the China in Africa podcast, host Eric Olander talks with the editor of chinaafricanews.com and London School of Economics masters candidate, Henry Hall, about the future ...
China in Africa: If You're Over 40 Years Old Then You Probably Don’t Get It
There is a discernable generational divide when it comes to opinions about the Chinese in Africa. It isn’t subtle and the split lines up according to age. In almost every instance, those over 40 years old frame the issue in “colonial terms” clearly influenced by their own early education of ...
In the Battle for Influence in Africa, China Turns to Agriculture
Xie Yajing is among the legions of faceless Chinese officials who are little known outside of their own bureaucracies. Despite his prominence as a senior Chinese commercial counselor for Africa and West Asia, not a single image of Xie appears in ...
China in Africa: The Transparency Paradox
Transparency is a loaded word in the development business. The idea that aid and investments in places like Africa should be subject to external audits and review is a sacrosanct principle within the industry. Never mind the irony that organizations like USAID, the United Nations and the World Bank among ...
The Chinese Construction Boom in Kenya
It may be hard to believe but half of all construction work underway in Kenya is now being done by Chinese firms, according to the U.S. public radio program “The World” (audio link below). It appears the Chinese infrastructure building juggernaut in Africa is ...
China in Africa: Understanding the “Negative Narrative”
In this edition of the China in Africa podcast, host Eric Olander talks with Washington, D.C.-based writer and journalist Te-Ping Chen. Chen is an editor for change.org where she writes extensively on sustainability and social entrepreneurship in the developing world. In a recent post on