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The China-Global South Project

Twice-weekly discussion about China's engagement across Africa and the Global South hosted by journalist Eric Olander and Asia-Africa scholar Cobus van Staden in Johannesburg.

The China in Africa Podcast

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te was forced to cancel a scheduled visit to Eswatini this week after Mauritius, the Seychelles, and Madagascar revoked Lai's flight permits. Authorities in Taipei immediately accused Beijing of using economic coercion against these three countries, a narrative that was quickly picked up by the international media and conservative lawmakers in the U.S.
 
There is no evidence supporting the claim of coercion or the reported threat that China would impose economic sanctions or revoke debt relief against these three countries. In fact, none of the African countries involved is in any kind of debt distress to China.
 
Eric, Géraud, and Cobus discuss why it was likely the exercise of African agency, rather than any pressure from China, that prompted the decision to close off their airspace to Lai's plane. 
 
📌 Topics Covered in This Episode
 
 • Why Taiwan's Africa trip was suddenly canceled
 • Claims of Chinese "economic coercion" examined
 • The reality of African countries' debt exposure to China
 • How US media and policymakers framed the story
 • Why African states had little incentive to say yes
 • The role of China's red lines in global diplomacy
 • How narratives diverge from facts in global coverage
 • What this reveals about Africa's agency in foreign policy
 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Why 3 African States Said No to Taiwan

China is the indispensable actor in Africa's tech ecosystem. From Huawei's telecom infrastructure to Transsion's dominant smartphone brands and Hikvision's surveillance systems, Chinese technologies are now deeply embedded across the continent, often holding leading market share in their sectors.
 
While the prominent role of Chinese technology has delivered significant benefits to African governments and consumers, it's also raised serious concerns among activists and policymakers around data privacy, the expansion of surveillance capabilities, and well-documented misuse by authoritarian-leaning governments.
 
Bulelani Jili, an assistant professor at Georgetown University and a leading scholar on China–Africa technology engagement, joins Eric and Cobus to discuss his latest research exploring the tension between how Chinese technology can drive meaningful empowerment and create potentially dangerous dependencies.
 
Show Notes: 
 
 African Affairs: • 
 Pedagogies of Digital Sovereignty: The Un/Making Of Dependency Through Technical Education in Kenya • by Bulelani Jili
 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

China, Surveillance, and Africa's Digital Transformation

The U.S. lags far behind China in the race for critical minerals, electric mobility, power generation, and new energy technologies, among others, but, in the view of many in Washington, D.C., there's still time to catch up.
 
Eric spent a week in the U.S. Capitol talking with key stakeholders in government, academia, and think tanks, to hear firsthand why there's widespread concern about China's lead in these areas, but no sense of panic.
 
Cobus and Géraud join Eric to discuss whether it may actually be too late for the United States to catch up to China in certain sectors and why African countries, in particular, are focusing less attention on ties with Washington as they look to other partners for their economic and development needs.
 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Awkward China-Africa Conversations in Washington, D.C.

A three-year investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Congolese NGO Premi Congo uncovered severe health consequences for communities living near the Tenke Fungurume Mine (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world's largest copper-cobalt mine. 
 
Residents report nosebleeds, coughing up blood, and a troubling rise in stillbirths, all linked to high levels of sulfur dioxide emitted by a processing plant at TFM operated by Chinese mining giant CMOC Group.
 
Luke Allen, a senior African program campaigner and one of the authors of the report, joins Eric & Géraud to discuss how the investigation also exposed major problems in corporate certifications that are supposed to call out this kind of environmental harm, but instead gave cover to the very companies causing it.
 
 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode:
 
 • The 3-year EIA investigation into the TFM mine
 • Health impacts on communities near the mine
 • CMOC's denial and response
 • Failures in corporate certification
 • China's mining footprint in the DRC
 • The human cost of the green energy supply chain
 
Show Notes:
 
 Environmental Investigation Agency: • Toxic Transition - How the world's largest cobalt producer has allegedly poisoned communities for years: 
https://tinyurl.com/3k72k7fe 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Why Residents Near a Massive Chinese-run Mine in the DR Congo Are Getting Sick

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng was in Kenya this week, where he oversaw the first shipment of agricultural products that will enter the Chinese market duty-free. There's a lot of excitement across the continent about China's removal of all import tariffs for goods from 53 African countries.
 
But Yan Liang, an economics professor at Willamette University, argues it's not going to make much of a difference to reduce the swelling trade deficit that most African countries now have with China. Yan joins Eric to discuss a recent paper she wrote that explores China's evolving economic relationship with Africa and how the continent's lack of industrial capacity, among other factors, will keep the trade relationship between these two regions largely intact.
 
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
 
 • China's changing financial role in Africa
 • New lending and investment patterns
 • Rising debt repayments and pressures
 • Growth of RMB financing in Africa
 • Trade imbalances and structural challenges
 • What China's economy means for Africa
 
Show Notes:
 
 International Development Economics Associates: • China's Evolving Role in Africa: Banker, Debt Collector and Rescuer by Yan Liang: 
https://tinyurl.com/mrybak59 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

China's Economic Relationship With Africa Is Entering a New Phase

While the Trump administration has taken a hard line toward Africa through aid cuts, travel bans, and pressure on governments like South Africa, it has also generated more investor excitement in Washington than we've seen in years. Donald Trump's new transactional foreign policy for the continent is prompting newfound enthusiasm from U.S. mining, oil, and security companies.
 
But translating that enthusiasm into actual engagement won't be easy. The majority of U.S. companies taking the first steps into the continent's critical minerals sector, for example, are small, inexperienced, and lag far behind their Chinese competitors.
 
Maureen Farrell, a non-resident senior fellow at The Atlantic Council, is in the midst of co-writing a six-part series of recommendations for U.S. policymakers to bolster U.S. security and economic engagement in Africa. Maureen joins Eric & Géraud to explain why Guinea, Libya, and Mozambique are of particular interest.
 
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
 
 • U.S.-China competition in Africa
 • Critical minerals and supply chains
 • Guinea mining opportunities
 • Libya geopolitics and energy
 • Mozambique LNG and security risks
 • Challenges facing US companies
 
Show Notes:
 
 The Atlantic Council: • 
 In Guinea, the US has a rare opportunity to gain an edge over China • by Rose Keravuori and Maureen Farrell
 The Atlantic Council: • 
 The US is reengaging with Libya—and it's the right call • by Rose Keravuori and Maureen Farrell
 The Atlantic Council • : 
 In Mozambique, US economic priorities hinge on security investments • by Rose Keravuori and Maureen Farrell
 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

View From Washington: What the US Needs to Do to Re-Engage Africa

For decades, the United States was the dominant provider of aid and humanitarian assistance to African countries. That changed last year with the closure of USAID. Washington now says it wants to prioritize trade over aid and is pursuing a more transactional approach to development assistance, linking support to mining access and data-sharing agreements.
 
China, by contrast, has never been a major aid provider by traditional standards. Beijing argues that its support for African countries comes primarily through concessional financing and infrastructure development. Like the United States, China is frequently accused of using assistance as a tool to advance broader geopolitical interests.
 
Obert Hodzi, a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool and a leading China–Africa scholar, and Santino Regilme, a lecturer at Leiden University, recently published a new book comparing U.S. and Chinese aid strategies in Africa. They join Eric and Cobus to discuss why the two approaches may appear similar at first glance but remain fundamentally different.
 
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
 
• African countries push back on new U.S. aid deals
 • Washington's shift from aid to trade and strategic partnerships
 • China's infrastructure-focused development model
 • Aid as a tool of geopolitical competition
 • Growing African agency in negotiating foreign assistance
 • Key differences between U.S. and Chinese aid strategies
 
Show Notes:
 
 Italian Journal of International Affairs: • Comparing US and Chinese Foreign Aid in the Era of Rising Powers by Obert Hodzi and Santino Regilme: 
https://tinyurl.com/bdzm34rs 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth
 
 .

Comparing U.S. and Chinese Aid Strategies in Africa

The U.S., Japan, and other G7 countries are scrambling to secure critical minerals to end their reliance on Chinese-controlled supply chains. Every week, there's news of another mining deal for cobalt, lithium, and other resources essential to powering 21st century technology.
 
But the race to control critical resources may already be over. Decades before countries in the Global West recognized the importance of these minerals and metals, China quietly built out a vast network of mining and refining operations.
 
Nicholas Niarchos, author of the new bestselling book "The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth," joins Eric & Géraud to discuss the history of the battery metal competition and why China's early moves in this space may have given it an insurmountable lead.
 
 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode:
 
 • Why everyone sees the critical minerals supply chain differently and who's missing the full picture
 • The making of "The Elements of Power" — one journalist's journey from Greece to Congo
 • Artisanal mining, child labor, and the political ecosystem keeping it alive
 • How China built its Congo mining empire over 30 years while the West looked away
 • The Sicomines "Deal of the Century" and what it revealed about Chinese strategy
 • Small Chinese traders, violence, and the uneasy coexistence on Congo's mining frontier
 • Indonesia, Western Sahara and the global pattern of extractive exploitation
 • Why the US critical minerals push may already be too little too late
 
Show Notes:
 
 • Purchase a copy of The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth: 
https://a.co/d/0g8xV4n8 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Who Controls the Battery Age? Congo, China, and the New Resource Order

For more than a decade, the dominant Western narrative about Chinese lending to African countries has focused on the purported "debt trap."
 
 But the data tells a very different story.
 
David McNair, executive director of Global Policy at ONE.org, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss a new report on African debt that challenges many popular assumptions.
 
While African countries owe $708 billion in total external debt, only about 11.5% is owed to China. Meanwhile, private bondholders hold the largest share, often at significantly higher interest rates. More importantly, China has shifted from being a major lender to becoming a major debt collector, as loans from the Belt and Road that surged a decade ago now come due. 
 
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode:
 
 • The scale of Africa's $708 billion external debt and China's 11.5% share
 • The $52 billion "Great Reversal" — from Chinese lending to debt collection
 • Why private bondholders now dominate Africa's debt landscape
 • Interest rate comparisons: Chinese loans vs. Eurobonds
 • The rise of multilateral development banks and expanded lending headroom
 • The failures and design flaws of the G20 Common Framework
 • 7. Credit rating agencies, risk perception, and Africa's borrowing costs
 
Show Notes:
 
 Development Finance Observatory: • T
he Great Reversal ONE Data: • 
African Debt Bloomberg: • 
 China's Retreat From Africa Lending Turns It Into Debt Collector by Matthew Hill 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @standenesque
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Why Private Bondholders Matter More Than China in Africa's Debt Debate

Shenzhen-based Transsion Holdings is now a massive Chinese technology company that few people outside of Africa and certain parts of Asia have heard of. Even in China, the brand, now the world's 5th-largest mobile phone producer, remains largely unknown.
 
Transsion gained notoriety after it entered the African market in 2006. Back then, the world's largest phone brands all but ignored African consumers, selling low-end, late-model devices designed primarily for Western and Asian consumers.
 
The Chinese company saw an opportunity and tweaked the software on its phones to optimize photos for darker skin tones, and added a suite of features like dual SIM cards, dustproofing, and longer battery life to sell sub-$100 phones to Africa's booming youth market. That formula worked, and the company's three brands, Tecno, Infinix, and iTel, have dominated the market for more than a decade.
 
But little is known about how Transsion achieved its success in Africa. Lu Miao, an assistant professor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, joins Eric & Cobus to lay out the company's strategy and why it was so effective in a market that others largely ignored.
 
Purchase the book: The Transsion Approach: Translating Chinese Mobile Technology in Africa by Lu Miao: https://a.co/d/04AKaajZ
 
📌 Topics covered in this episode:
 
• Why rural-first strategy beat Silicon Valley-style scaling
 • How African distributors helped shape product design and marketing
 • The importance of dual SIM cards, long battery life, and localized features
 • The role of Carlcare repair centers in building long-term loyalty
 • The shift from feature phones to smartphones and rising competition
 • Growing patent lawsuits and the next phase of AI-driven competition
 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander 
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
 
Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social
 
Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: 
 
 • French: 
www.projetafriquechine.com • | 
@AfrikChine • Spanish: 
www.chinalasamericas.com • | 
@ChinaAmericas 
Join us on Patreon!
 Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Awkward China-Africa Conversations in Washington, D.C.

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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