CGSP Podcasts
Weekly discussions with key thought leaders about China’s engagement in Africa and the Global South.
podcast
The Complicated Role Chinese Business Plays in Kenyan Corruption
One of the many simple, widely-believed narratives about the Chinese in Africa is that PRC businesses fuel corruption across the continent. That caricature, although overly-simplistic, is amplified by China's insistence there be little to no transparency in ...
Does It Make Sense for Africans to Learn Mandarin Chinese?
The South African government's 2015 decision to add Mandarin Chinese to the national curriculum sparked an uproar that baffled people in other, often more affluent societies around the world where the demand to learn ...
Africa Confronts Tough Choices as Economies Falter, Instability Rises
Faced with slumping economies, restive populations and, in many areas, the surging threat of sectarian violence, a growing number of African countries stand at a critical juncture where they must decide who to turn to for help: to their new friends in Beijing or ...
Are Chinese IT Companies Doing Enough to Train Locals in Africa?
The Chinese telecom giant Huawei recently launched a massive publicity campaign to raise awareness in Africa about all that it is doing to train local employees. The company has opened at least five training centers in different countries across the ...
China's Undeserved Reputation for Building Bad Infrastructure in Africa
The Chinese build more infrastructure in Africa than any other country (foreign or African). Chinese banks are financing billions of dollars in new loans, aid packages and other deals to build badly-needed infrastructure across the continent and it's Chinese companies ...
Why Gambian Migrants Are Giving up on Their “China Dream”
They did not know very much about China but they had heard it was the world's second largest economy and Africa's leading trading partner, so they assumed there must be opportunity. Europe, of course, was their first choice but with EU countries overwhelmed by ...
The Honeymoon Between China and Africa Is Over and That's a Good Thing
It wasn't that long ago when it was all smiles between the Chinese and Africans. Remember? The headlines were all about "win-win" development, China's role in helping Africa to rise above its colonial past and investment, ...
There Are a Lot More Chinese Soldiers in Africa Today… And Likely More to Come
Over the past five years the Chinese military presence in Africa has undergone a profound change. Until 2012, the Chinese were happy to play a low-key support role in multinational peacekeeping operations on the continent, preferring to send military engineers and medical staff rather ...
China's Relationship Status with South Africa: "It's Complicated"
South Africa's relationship with China has undergone a profound transformation in a remarkably short period of time. In less than twenty years, these two countries have gone from barely acknowledging one another to developing a deep partnership that transcends economics, ...
China Was Once a Hot Destination for African Migrants, Not Anymore
It was not that long ago that entire neighborhoods in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou were overflowing with African migrants. Although there are no precise figures, scholars estimated that between 20,000-100,000 African immigrants used to lived in Guangzhou, or ...
The Danger of Too Much Chinese Debt in Africa
The financial implosion in Venezuela is prompting growing concern in Beijing that China may have been too ambitious in its drive to loan billions of dollars to high-risk countries throughout the global south. Persistently low oil ...
Namibia's Chinese Ivory Smugglers
Namibia is the rare country in Africa that seems to be holding its own against ivory poachers. Whereas in most other southern African countries the elephant population is being decimated, in Namibia, according to the government, the number of ...