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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

Anti-immigrant protests in South Africa have raised difficult questions about race, class, and who gets targeted during waves of xenophobic anger. While Black African migrants have faced growing hostility, Chinese migrants and other foreign communities have largely avoided the same scrutiny.
 
This week, Eric, Cobus, and Géraud examine why that is, and what it reveals about poverty, politics, and state dysfunction in South Africa. They also unpack a new set of China-South Africa trade protocols that could quietly expand bilateral trade, especially as Pretoria's relationship with Washington becomes more strained.
 
Finally, they reflect on recent conversations in Nairobi, South Africa, Beijing, and New York about China, Africa, and the Global South's place in a rapidly changing world order.
 

 
📌 Topics Covered in This Episode
 
South Africa's anti-immigrant protests
 Why some migrants are targeted
 Are Chinese migrants part of the backlash?
 China-South Africa trade protocols
 Africa's trade imbalance with China
 African agency in U.S.-China competition
 

 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud | @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

South Africa's Protests, China-Africa Trade, Global South Politics

Kenya's landmark debt restructuring deal with China, announced last year, converted $3 billion in outstanding China Exim Bank loans from U.S. dollars to Chinese yuan. The currency switch could save the East African country more than $200 million in debt servicing costs.
 
Not surprisingly, other countries in Asia and Africa are now exploring similar arrangements to reduce their debt burdens. But a new report from the development finance research lab AidData argues that Kenya's savings came mostly from the restructuring terms — not from the yuan conversion itself.
 
AidData's Oshin Pandey and Sailor Miao join Eric and Cobus to explain how the deal worked, why it matters, and why there is more to this arrangement than most headlines suggest.
 
📌 Topics Covered in This Episode
 
 • Kenya's landmark China debt deal
 • Debt restructuring vs. yuan conversion
 • Why AidData challenges the narrative
 • Ethiopia's restructuring prospects
 • China's evolving lending strategy
 • The future of sovereign debt relief
 
Show Notes:
 
 AidData: • 
 Kenya's USD-to-RMB Debt Conversion Was Really a Restructuring • by Sailor Miao and Oshin Pandey
 The China-Global South Project: • 
 Kenya's Chinese Debt Swap Comes With a Hidden Currency Risk 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud | @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

Kenya's China Debt Restructuring Explained

The Chinese government this week unveiled a new vision for the emerging post-American-led international order. In a new white paper, Beijing argued that the existing global system does not need to be replaced or rebuilt. Instead, it called for the United Nations to remain at the center of global governance while giving developing countries a greater voice in international decision-making.
 
Eric and Cobus discuss China's push for global governance reform and why many African countries are backing Beijing's position. Plus, Kenya becomes the latest front in the contest between China and Taiwan after Nairobi acquiesced to Beijing's pressure and blocked Taiwanese delegates from attending an oceans forum in Mombasa.
 📌 Topics Covered in This Episode • China's new vision for global governance
 • Why African countries support Beijing's proposal
 • The UN's role in a changing world order
 • China's growing influence in the Global South
 • Kenya blocks Taiwanese delegates from oceans forum
 • The escalating China–Taiwan contest in Africa
 
Show Notes:
 
 Full text: • 
 More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China's Principles, Proposals and Actions South China Morning Post: • 
 The white paper making China's case for new rules for the world's new frontiers • by Orange Wang
 Al Jazeera: • 
 Taiwan accuses Kenya of deporting conference delegates on China's behalf 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud | @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

China Unveils Vision for a New World Order

Taiwan's delegates to the Our Ocean Conference scheduled to take place in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa next week will not be permitted to participate, according to a well-placed source. If this is the case, it would mark the third major setback for Taiwan in Africa over the past several weeks.
 
Last month, the digital rights conference Rightscon was canceled in Lusaka, in part due to pressure from the Chinese embassy to block the participation of a small group of delegates from Taiwan. Around the same time, three African Indian Ocean island states refused to grant Taiwan President Lai Ching-te permission to overfly for a scheduled trip to Eswatini.
 
Plus, Eric, Cobus & Géraud discuss how a labor dispute at a massive Chinese-run cobalt mine in the DRC came to an end and the latest in the U.S.-China critical minerals competition in Africa.
 
📌 Topics Covered in This Episode
 
 • Taiwan's shrinking diplomatic space in Africa
 • Kenya, China, and the Taiwan question
 • Congo's critical minerals and coltan smuggling
 • Labor unrest at a major Chinese-owned mine
 • Resource nationalism vs. mining investment
 • The global race for critical mineral supply chains
 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud | @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

Africa Is Closing The Door On Taiwan

Dan Kobayashi spent 16 years working as a U.S. diplomat focused on African issues, both at posts in Lesotho, Zambia, and Malawi, among others, and at the State Department's intelligence bureau in Washington, D.C. He had a close-up view of how U.S.-Africa policy has evolved over the years, particularly as it relates to China's expanding presence on the continent.
 
Today, Dan is out of government and works as a geopolitical risk consultant in Geneva, where he also writes for his new Expatriach Substack. He joins Eric, Cobus, and Géraud to share an insider's perspective on the current state of U.S. policy towards Africa and why the notion that Washington is competing with Beijing for influence in the region is outdated.
 
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
 
 • Inside Washington's Africa policymaking
 • Trump's changing approach to Africa
 • The China "debt trap" debate
 • U.S.-China competition in Africa
 • Aid cuts, visas, and diplomacy
 • What's next for U.S.-Africa relations?
 
Show Notes:
 
 Sign up to The Expatriach Substack Expatriarch: • 
 USAID Is Unlikely to Be Replaced With Something Better Any Time Soon, So Stop Pretending • by Dan Kobayashi
 Expatriarch: • 
 My Resignation from the State Department • by Dan Kobayashi
 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud | @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

Former State Department Insider on Washington's Muddled Africa Policy

In this week's China in Africa podcast episode, which also serves as a Round Table episode, C. Geraud Neema and Cobus van Staden break down why Europe is increasingly concerned about Chinese investment in Morocco's electric vehicle industry supply chain, and whether Brussels is ignoring Morocco's own industrial strategy.
 
The conversation then turns to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, comparing the U.S. quarantine response with China's medical aid approach. The controversy in Kenya over a proposed U.S. Ebola facility shows how African public opinion toward Washington may be shifting in the post-USAID era.
 
Finally, new Afrobarometer data from Seychelles reveals howshows that India and China are gaining positive influence in the Indian Ocean, while the U.S. continues to fall behind.
 
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 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

WEEK IN REVIEW: China's Africa Influence Test - Trade, Ebola & Perception

The U.S. is rapidly reshaping its trade and industrial policies to build new critical mineral supply chains as part of a broader effort to reduce the country's dependence on China for these strategic resources. So far, however, most of Washington's deals have focused primarily on securing access to raw materials such as cobalt, lithium, and rare earths.
 
That alone may not be enough to compete with China, which has spent decades investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the infrastructure, processing capacity, and skilled workforce needed to build resilient supply chains.
 
Zainab Usman, senior research scholar and managing director of international programs at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, recently published a new paper examining how the U.S. is adapting its trade policies to strengthen its critical minerals strategy. She joins Eric and Géraud from Washington to discuss whether these efforts can realistically help the United States narrow the gap with China.
 
📌 Topics Covered in This Episode
 
 • America's critical minerals strategy
 • U.S.-China supply chain competition
 • Why extraction alone isn't enough
 • The infrastructure and workforce gap
 • Trade policy as industrial policy
 • Africa's role in the minerals race
 • Can the U.S. catch up to China?
 
Show Notes:
 
 United Nations University: • 
 The International trade dimensions of the United States critical minerals security strategy • by Zainab Usman
 Bloomberg Originals: • 
The $10 Billion Hunt for the Rocks That Power the World Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions: • 
 Assessing the U.S.-China Competition for Minerals Crucial to the Development of Emerging Technologies 
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

How the US Is Trying to Challenge China's Critical Mineral Dominance

Kenya's Court of Appeals issued a landmark ruling rejecting the government's decade-long effort to keep secret the $4.5 billion in China Exim Bank loan contracts used to finance the Standard Gauge Railway. The decision marks a major victory for civil society activists who have long argued that the project was plagued by corruption, opaque procurement practices, and unfavorable terms for Kenya.
 
Eric & Geraud also discuss how a growing dispute between Niger and Benin over a Chinese-backed oil pipeline is exposing the intersection of resource politics, security risks, and Beijing's evolving role in Africa's energy sector.
 
Finally, the discussion turns to China's new zero-tariff access for African exports, why many African governments may struggle to take full advantage of the opportunity, and how shifting global energy and trade dynamics are once again increasing the strategic importance of African infrastructure and commodities.
 
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
 
 1. Kenya's secret China railway loan contracts
 2. Court ruling on SGR transparency
 3. Niger-Benin pipeline dispute
 4. China's shifting Africa investment strategy
 5. Zero-tariff access for African exports
 6. Africa's growing strategic energy importance
 
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

Kenya Court Orders Secret China Railway Contracts Released

From the streets of Beijing to the halls of Peking University, Geraud shares what's changed in China after a decade away — and how Chinese scholars are rethinking Africa beyond the traditional "China-Africa" lens. Geraud joins Eric & Cobus from the Chinese capital to discuss the new mood in Beijing, declining foreign presence, and what African diplomats and researchers really think about the future of ties with China.
 
Plus, French President Emmanuel Macron focused a lot of attention on China during his recent trip to Kenya, where he accused Beijing of becoming the continent's new "predator." And, a breakdown of the latest China-Africa trade numbers that reveal some very big problems.
 
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
 
 • Geraud's return to Beijing after 10 years
 • The changing mood inside China on Africa
 • Why fewer foreigners are living in Beijing
 • Chinese scholars rethinking Africa studies
 • Macron's China comments during his Kenya visit
 • Africa's growing trade imbalance with China
 
Join the Discussion:
 
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud | @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

What Africa Looks Like From Beijing Today

The U.S. created the post-World War II international order that it no longer wants to lead today. But what replaces it is still unknown. So, in the meantime, small and medium-sized countries, so-called "middle powers," are scrambling to form new partnerships to insulate themselves from the inevitable instability that will arise from this transition.
 
We're seeing this play out daily now as leaders from South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Vietnam, Japan, and dozens of other countries crisscross the globe at a frenetic pace to build what many are describing as a new middle-power coalition.
 
But Sarang Shidore, director of the Global South program at the Quincy Institute, argued in a Foreign Policy column that it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, for a coalition like this to succeed. Sarang joins Eric to explain why divergent north-south interests will be very hard to overcome.
 
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
 
 • Rapid global realignment among middle powers
 • Declining trust in U.S.-led institutions
 • BRICS and alternative power coalitions
 • China's growing Global South influence
 • Transactional diplomacy and diversification
 • What the next world order may look like
 
Show Notes:
 
 Foreign Policy: • 
 Can Middle Powers Gel? • by Sarang Shidore
 The New York Times • : 
 American Supremacy Is Over, and Something New Is Coming • by Sarang Shidore
 Politico: • 
 Trump Is Demolishing the Global Order. Here's What Might Come Next. 
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

Kenya Court Orders Secret China Railway Contracts Released

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