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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

There's a Chinese proverb that says, “If you want to get rich, build a road first.” That philosophy has guided China's development strategy in Africa for much of the past 25 years, that's led to the construction of more than 100,000km of new roads across the continent.
 
We wanted to find out, though, if it's true: does a new road actually pave the way for prosperity, as they say it does? So, we asked Malawi-based journalist Raphael Mweninguwe to visit two highways, the M1 and M26, to speak with local residents and shopkeepers about whether their lives have improved since the Chinese built these highways.
 
Raphael joins Eric from the Malawian capital, Lilongwe, to discuss his report that was published on CGSP this week and explain why the question about whether the road helped improve their lives doesn't have a simple answer.
 
SHOW NOTES:
 
 The China-Global South Project: • 
 Chinese-Built Roads in Malawi Bring Hope but Not the Riches Many Expected • by Raphael Mweninguwe
 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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

If You Want to Get Rich, Build a Road. Testing China’s Theory in Africa

Over the past week, sharply contrasting images of Chinese engagement in Africa surfaced online. Anger erupted on social media over the release of yet another violent video that shows Congolese soldiers brutally beating local miners purportedly at the behest of Chinese nationals watching in the background.
 
A controversial hour-long documentary by one of Zambia's leading newspapers also sparked a lot of discussion over the labor and environmental records of Chinese mining companies in the country. The Chinese embassy in Lusaka denounced the program as "biased" and containing "hidden motives."
 
Meanwhile, in China, a 15-second teaser of a new blockbuster movie also dropped this week that looks like it's set in a fictitious North African country, while popular Chinese travel vlogger Zhang Jun released a visually stunning 2.5-hour-long documentary on the Congolese fashion scene known as "La Sape."
 
Eric, Géraud & Cobus discuss these various clips and shows that emerged this week and what they reveal about the evolution of China-Africa media narratives.
 
SHOW NOTES:
 
 Justicia ABSL: • 
Violent beating of Congolese miners by FARDC soldiers News Diggers • : 
China: The Good, the Bad and the Dangerous • 
Movie Trailer: 用武之地/The Point of No Return • 
 The Fashion Bible: • 
 Congo’s “La Sape” Fashion Culture Through the Unlikely Lens of a Chinese Vlogger 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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

A Turbulent Week for China-Africa Media Narratives

Chinese construction giant Sinohydro signed a $100 million deal with Angola to build out the country's agricultural infrastructure in a bid to boost grain production. While 60% of the output from this venture will be shipped to China, the rest will be sold domestically in a move aimed at reducing the West African country's food import bill.
 
The Sinohydro news followed an even larger agriculture announcement between the two countries when Chinese conglomerate Citic signed a $250 million contract to develop large-scale soybean and corn farms in Angola.
 
Géraud and Cobus discuss why the timing of these deals is so interesting as China moves quickly to reduce its reliance on wheat, soy, and corn imports from the U.S.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 X: @ChinaGSProject | @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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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

[WEEK IN REVIEW] China Invests in Angola to Secure Food Supply Chains

After a two-to-three-year hiatus following the pandemic, Chinese money is once again flowing into the African energy sector. Billions of dollars in new investment and construction contracts for power facilities were registered in the first half of the year, particularly in Nigeria, according to new data published by Griffiths University in Australia and the Green Finance and Development Center in Beijing.
 
 
 
These new contracts and investments will bolster China's already formidable presence in the continent's energy market, where Chinese-backed projects account for approximately 23 GW of installed generation capacity across at least 27 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa – nearly 20 percent of the region’s total.
 
 
 
Naa Adjekai Adjei, CGSP's non-resident fellow for Africa, is examining the operational aspects of Chinese-backed power projects in Africa for a new bi-weekly series that encompasses everything from project pitching to financing and construction. Adjekai joins Eric & Cobus to explain why China's role in African energy development remains poorly understood despite its sizable presence.
 
SHOW NOTES:
 

 
 The China-Global South Project: • 
 Motives That Matter: The Economic and Strategic Logic Behind China’s Power Sector Engagement in Africa • by Naa Adjekai Adjei
 The China-Global South Project: • 
 Inside China’s Power Play: Understanding the Institutions Behind Africa’s Energy Projects • by Naa Adjekai Adjei
 The Conversation: • 
 How to negotiate infrastructure deals with China: four things African governments need to get right • by Folashadé Soulé
 

 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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 Vital, Yet Poorly Understood Role in Africa’s Energy Sector

The "debt trap" meme claims that China is intentionally lending vast sums of money to poor developing countries in Africa, and elsewhere, with the express intent to seize physical assets in those countries when they inevitably can't repay their debts.
 
This fanciful narrative sounds compelling, but the problem is that there's literally no evidence from the past twenty years since China became the world's largest bilateral creditor to support the claim. It just isn't true.
 
The reality of how China actually secures its loans to these countries is far more complicated.
 
Anna Gelpern, a law professor at Georgetown University, and Brad Parks, executive director of AidData, a development finance research institute at the College of William & Mary, were part of a team of experts that did an extensive forensic analysis of 620 Chinese loans spanning more than 20 years that revealed the financial methods Beijing employs to guarantee these debts.
 
Anna and Brad join Eric to discuss the findings from their new report, "How China Collateralizes."
 
SHOW NOTES:
 
 AidData • : 
How China Collateralizes • by Anna Gelpern, Omar Haddad, Sebastian Horn, Paulina Kintzinger, Bradley C. Parks, Christoph Trebesch
 AidData: • 
How China Lends: A Rare Look into 100 Debt Contracts with Foreign Governments • by Anna Gelpern, Sebastian Horn, Scott Morris, Brad Parks, Christoph Trebesch
 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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

How China Really Secures Its Loans to Developing Countries

A new generation of scholars is reshaping China-Africa research. More geographically diverse and digitally fluent than the field’s early pioneers of the 2000s, this cohort brings fresh perspectives and tools to the study of China’s engagement on the continent.
 
Yet deep structural barriers persist. African and Chinese researchers still face sizable obstacles in shaping research agendas, as U.S. and European institutions continue to dominate decisions about what gets studied, who receives funding, and which voices are amplified.
 
Solange Guo Chatelard, a research associate at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the new executive director of the Chinese in Africa/Africans in China research network, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the current state of China-Africa scholarship and where it's going.
 
SHOW NOTES:
 
 The China-Global South Project • : 
 A Display of Power, Not Partnership, in Washington • by C. Géraud Neema
 The Chinese in Africa/Africans in China Research Network • : https://ca-ac.org/
 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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

The Evolution of China-Africa Research and Where It’s Headed

While the U.S., India, and countries in the Persian Gulf are all moving quickly to establish new critical mineral supply chains, the European Union is struggling to follow suit, particularly in Africa. The EU currently lacks a cohesive policy framework that would bolster mining companies, support partner countries, and encourage the development of a mineral processing sector that can lessen Europe's current dependence on China.
 
To do this, the EU should follow China's model in Africa, where it paired extraction with the development of vital infrastructure, according to a new commentary from the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM).
 
The authors, Poorva Karkare and Karim Karaki, join Eric & Géraud from Brussels to explain why the EU should strive for strategic complementarity rather than competition with China in Africa.
 
SHOW NOTES:
 
 ECDPM: • 
 The EU’s playbook for African minerals amid China’s dominance • by Poorva Karkare and Karim Karaki
 AFRICA POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE • : 
 The tumultuous path toward EU-China-Africa trilateral cooperation on Critical Raw Materials in Africa • by C. Géraud Neema
 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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

Lessons for Europe From China's Critical Minerals Strategy in Africa

Borrowers in Africa and other developing regions are expected to repay $35 billion of Chinese loans this year, with two-thirds of the amount coming from the world's poorest countries. Many of these debts were taken out in the mid-2010s and are now exiting their grace periods, putting enormous pressure on government budgets that were already under strain.
 
But this isn't a problem just for borrowing countries; Chinese creditors are also finding themselves in a difficult bind. If they push too hard to collect on these debts, it could force the most vulnerable countries into default. At the same time, though, they have an obligation to their stakeholders, including Chinese taxpayers, to ensure these obligations are fulfilled.
 
Riley Duke, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute, highlighted the difficult dilemma for both creditor and borrower in a new report on Chinese debt collection. Riley joins Eric & Cobus from Sydney to discuss how both sides of the transaction are responding to this growing challenge.
 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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

It's Payback Time For a Lot of Those Chinese Loans

China is emerging from the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran in a much weaker position. For years, Beijing counted on Tehran to serve as a bulwark against Washington. Today, though, that's no longer possible as the Iranian government and its proxies across the Middle East have been neutralized, at least for now.
 
The conflict also exposed a major Chinese vulnerability following threats that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the attacks on its nuclear facilities. This would be devastating for the Chinese economy, given that between a third and half of all Chinese oil imports pass through this strategic waterway.
 
Ahmed Aboudouh, head of the China research unit at the Emirates Policy Center and an associate fellow in the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa program, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the new realities facing Beijing in the aftermath of the war in Iran.
 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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

[GLOBAL SOUTH] China Forced to Regroup After Israel-Iran War

Over the past 25 years, China’s military engagement with Africa has grown dramatically. In 2000, fewer than 5% of African weapons came from China. Today, Chinese-made armored vehicles are used by 70% of African militaries, and China has become the continent’s largest arms supplier.
 
Officer training programs have followed a similar trajectory. At the turn of the century, fewer than 200 African officers were trained in China; today, that number exceeds 2,000.
 
Paul Nantulya, a veteran China–Africa military analyst and research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, joins Eric and Cobus to unpack his latest findings on how Beijing is deepening its defense ties across the continent.
 
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 ARABIC:
 Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
 
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 Africa Security Strategy: Training, Arms, and Political Influence

Many African countries are confronting unprecedented challenges from a convergence of forces far beyond their control. Africans are suffering disproportionately from the effects of climate change, global economic disruption and are being pushed to the middle of yet another Great Power rivalry.
 
The problems facing the continent are big and the solutions need to be even bigger. Ghanaian entrepreneur and public intellectual Bright Simons is applying his extensive background in social science, political economy, and technology to develop new pathways for African policymakers in this uncertain era.
 
Bright joins Eric & Cobus from Accra to discuss his latest thinking on everything from the role of China to artificial intelligence in African development.
 
JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
 
Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @bbsimons
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 
YouTube: www.youtube.com/ChinaAfricaProject
 
FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
 
Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
 
عربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfr
 
JOIN US ON PATREON!
 
Become a CAP 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 CAP Podcast mug!
 
www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject
 
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Bright Simons on Africa in the Era of Great Power Competition

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