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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

The collapse of the post-war international system now underway will have a disproportionate impact on African countries that rely heavily on multilateral bodies like the UN. Beyond a pull-back of aid and humanitarian assistance, African countries must also contend with an increasingly hostile United States.
 
Dozens of African countries have been targeted by the Trump administration for visa restrictions, trade sanctions, and regularly denigrated by the president himself. At the same time, U.S. diplomats across the continent were ordered by the State Department in January to remind African governments to express more gratitude to the U.S. for its "generosity."
 
Judd Devermont, the former top Africa strategist at the White House during the Biden administration and now an operating partner at Kupanda Capital in Washington, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the future of U.S.-Africa relations and China's expanding presence on the continent.
 
📌 Topics covered in this episode:
 
 • China's sharp drop in Africa lending and what it signals
 • Why big Chinese infrastructure projects are fading
 • U.S. Africa relations after USAID and PEPFAR cuts
 • The leaked State Department email and Africa as a "peripheral" priority
 • America's collapsing credibility in Africa and beyond
 • Why China is seen as an opportunity, not an ally
 • Critical minerals and the limits of extractive diplomacy
 • What the shifting U.S.-China-Africa balance means next
 
Show Notes:
 
 Post Strategy • : 
On China • by Judd Devermont
 The Guardian: • 
 Head of US Africa bureau urges staff to highlight US 'generosity' despite aid cuts • by Aisha Down
 China Power Project: • 
 US-China-Africa Relations: A View from Africa • by Lina Benabdallah
 
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

Africa and the New World Order: U.S. Pulls Back and China Moves Forward

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week will likely be remembered as one of the most significant orations of the early 21st century. Carney channeled the fear and frustration of many global leaders when he defiantly declared that the U.S.-led international order is over.
 
The "rupture" that Carney referenced in his address has profound consequences for China as it moves to reshape a part of this new international order to better align with its interests.
 
Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior research scholar at Columbia University, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why this is such a pivotal time for China as it moves to become a peer power of the United States, at least economically, without triggering the so-called "Thuycides Trap" that dictates this kind of rivalry often leads to war.
 
Show Notes:
 
 Foreign Affairs • : 
 China's Long Economic War — How Beijing Builds Leverage for Indefinite Competition • by Zongyuan Zoe Liu
 
📌 Topics covered in this episode:
 
 • Mark Carney's Davos speech and the declaration of a global rupture
 • The collapse of the rules-based international order
 • What a post-American world looks like for middle powers
 • Economic coercion and the weaponization of supply chains
 • Where China fits in the new global order
 • China's long economic war and leverage strategy
 • The Global South's trust gap with China
 • Why the debt trap narrative persists despite evidence
 • China as an opportunity rather than ally in emerging markets
 • The rapid erosion of U.S. global credibility
 
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's Place in the New Post-American International Order

While global attention was fixed on the fallout from U.S. intervention in Venezuela and rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi quietly toured three African countries in a notably low-profile visit.
 
Eric, Cobus, and Géraud unpack why this understated trip mattered despite attracting little media attention, and examine its timing alongside a controversial BRICS naval exercise held off the coast of South Africa.
 
📌 Topics covered in this episode:
 
 • Why Africa remains China's first diplomatic stop of the year
 • Wang Yi's low-key tour: Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Lesotho
 • Somalia–Somaliland tensions and China's security calculus
 • Ethiopia diplomacy, development messaging, and AU signaling
 • Tanzania's political reassurance and legacy infrastructure ties
 • Lesotho market access, tariffs, and geopolitical symbolism
 • BRICS naval drills off South Africa and U.S. backlash (AGOA/G20)
 • China's zero-tariff push vs. Africa's limited export gains
 • Bandung 1955: why Asia–Africa solidarity faded, and what could revive it
 • Indonesia parallels: Chinese-built infrastructure and nickel-sector controversies
 • Public opinion shifts: pragmatic views on China and declining U.S. appeal
 
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

What Did Wang Yi Accomplish on His Low-Key Africa Tour?

China's Wang Yi kicked off a four-nation, week-long Africa tour this week, marking a signature tradition for Beijing: making the continent the foreign minister's first overseas trip of the new year.
 
Wang visited Ethiopia and will also travel to Somalia, Tanzania, and Lesotho in southern Africa.
 
Ovigwe Eguegu, a Nigeria-based policy analyst for Development Reimagined, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why these four countries made the itinerary, and what Beijing may be signaling geopolitically and economically.
 
📌 Topics covered include:
 
 • Why Africa is China's first diplomatic stop in 2026
 • Somalia Somaliland and great power competition
 • Ethiopia debt diplomacy and AU politics
 • Tanzania ports and the TAZARA railway
 • Lesotho tariffs AGOA fallout and symbolism
 • China positioning itself as a multilateral partner in Africa
 
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 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 Wang Yi Chose Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania & Lesotho for His 2026 Africa Tour

In this special year-end edition of The China in Africa Podcast, Eric, Cobus, and Géraud look back on the top stories of 2025 and look ahead to the key trend to watch in 2026. 
 
📌 Topics covered include:
 
 • Simandou goes online (Guinea) and the iron ore geopolitics shift
 • Zambia's Kafue River spill and the China narrative battle
 • China's manufacturing push, overcapacity, and export pressures
 • Soybeans and South America's growing leverage in U.S.–China trade
 • China–India détente and what it changes (and doesn't)
 • G20 turbulence around South Africa and global governance fractures
 • 2026 outlook: Southeast Asia rivalry, Zimbabwe lithium value-add, Senegal hidden debt
 
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 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

2025 China-Africa Year in Review

Every year, illegal mining, fishing, and logging drain billions of dollars from West Africa's economies as the problem persists largely unchecked, with Chinese actors playing an outsized role. Fueled by chronic corruption among local regulators across the region and seemingly insatiable demand for these resources in China, curtailing these illegal activities often feels impossible.
 
But there's still hope. Earlier this year, a group of 21 scholars and analysts, mostly from West Africa, came together to develop new solutions and policy recommendations to reform the mining, timber, and fishing trades, empowering local communities while reducing local corruption.
 
Their findings were released earlier this fall in a series of three reports co-published by the Keogh School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame and the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.
 
Two of the project organizations, Notre Dame Professor Joshua Eisenman, and Caroline Costello, assistant director of the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, join Eric & Géraud to discuss the reports and how China can play a constructive role in helping to end illegal resource extraction in West Africa.
 
📌 Topics covered include:
 
 • China's environmental footprint in West Africa
 • Why illegal extraction persists despite strong laws
 • The politics behind "China-free" resource corridors
 • Lessons from China's ivory ban and whether rosewood could be next
 • What African governments — not just China — must do differently
 
Download the reports:
 
 Chinese mining in West Africa: Responding to the environmental and social impacts Chinese fishing in West Africa: Responding to the environmental and social impacts Chinese demand for timber and wildlife in West Africa: Responding to the environmental and social impacts 
Show Notes:
 
 The Financial Times: • 
The American company seeking to counter China in Africa • by David Pilling and Leslie Hook
 Foreign Policy: • 
 China's Appetite for Rosewood Is Causing Chaos in Africa • by Joshua Eisenman and Caroline Costello
 Environmental Investigation Agency: • 
 New Report Finds That Home Depot Sold Illegally Sourced Tropical Wood for Years 
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 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 Outsized Role in West Africa's Illegal Resource Trade

Africa's industrialization push is colliding with the defining economic question of this era: how can any country or region climb the manufacturing value chain so long as China dominates industrial production of pretty much, well, everything? 
 
But even if overcoming the China question is possible, African leaders then face a second, more daunting obstacle: infrastructure. The lack of reliable power, water, roads, and other infrastructure necessary to support industrialization is severe in many parts of the continent.
 
A new book by Professor Carlos Oya, a preeminent China-Africa scholar at the University of London, details China's complex role in Africa's pursuit of industrialization. Eric & Cobus speak with Carlos about how China is simultaneously a big challenge and an important part of the solution.
 
Topics covered
 
 • Why industrialization is back at the center of African economic strategy
 • The infrastructure constraint: electricity costs, reliability, and targeted hubs
 • Ethiopia's experience: what worked, what didn't, and why it mattered
 • China's evolving role: from policy-bank infrastructure to private manufacturing plays
 • The evidence on "Chinese labor" myths and what research actually shows
 
Download the book (free):
 
 Cambridge University Press • : 
 China for Africa's Industrialization? • by Carlos Oya
 
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 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 Role in Africa's Industrialization: Obstacle, Partner, or Both?

The U.S. and the DR Congo signed a landmark deal on critical minerals during President Félix Tshisekedi's visit to the White House this week. The pact provides the U.S. with extraordinary access to the Congolese mining sector and is widely expected to inhibit Chinese mining companies in the DRC from expanding their operations.
 
CGSP Africa Editor Géraud Neema joins Eric & Cobus to break down the details of the deal and explain why what happened in the DRC could set a dangerous precedent for Chinese mining operations in other African countries.
 
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 & 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 the U.S.-DRC Mining Deal is Bad News For China

With the U.S. absent from two major international summits this month, the G20 in South Africa and the COP30 in Brazil, we got an early look at what the post-American order is starting to look like. In both instances, China moved to fill the void left by the U.S., taking on a much more prominent role.
 
Anika Patel, China analyst at the non-profit climate news site Carbon Brief, reported extensively from COP30 and noted a key difference in Beijing's messaging at the different summits in Johannesburg and Belém. In South Africa, Chinese Premier Li Qiang sought to position Beijing as an emergent global norm-setter, whereas in Brazil, the Chinese delegation explicitly rejected a leadership role.
 
Anika joins Eric & Cobus to discuss China's complicated position at the COP30 summit and why, even though it's the world's leader in climate energy and technology, the country explicitly doesn't want the designation "climate leader."
 
📌 Key topics in this episode:
 
• China's unusually prominent role at COP30 as the U.S. stayed away
 • Why China rejects the "climate leader" label despite its influence
 • How consensus politics shaped COP30 outcomes on finance, fossil fuels, and just transition
 • Climate finance tensions and China's insistence on developing-country status
 • Battles over CBAM, EV tariffs, rare earths, and other unilateral trade measures
 • How developing countries weigh cheap Chinese green tech against local industry goals
 • Why China's carbon market, energy transition, and pavilion drew huge interest at COP30
 
SHOW NOTES:
 
 Carbon Brief: • 
 COP30: Key outcomes for food, forests, land and nature at the UN climate talks in Belém Carbon Brief: • 
 COP30: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Belém 
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 & 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 at COP30 and the New Politics of Climate Change

China has funded, designed, and built more than 200 government buildings across Africa, including the headquarters of the African Union and Ecowas, foreign ministry annexes in Ghana and Kenya, and at least 15 national parliaments.
 
Eric and Cobus speak with Innocent Batsani-Ncube, an associate professor of African politics at Queen Mary University of London and author of the new book China and African Parliaments.
 
Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Lesotho, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, Batsani-Ncube explains how China's parliamentary construction boom works, why African governments welcome it, and what he calls "subtle power"—a form of elite-level influence that sits between soft and sharp power.
 
📌 Key topics in this episode:
 
 • Why China builds African parliamentary buildings — and why African governments accept them
 • "Subtle power" vs. soft power vs. sharp power
 • The politics behind construction, design, and land selection
 • How these buildings shape legislative capacity and political identity
 • Case studies: Lesotho, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Congo-Brazzaville
 • Does this compromise sovereignty? Or strengthen parliaments?
 • Are these buildings really vectors for Chinese espionage?
 
📘 Purchase China and African Parliaments by Innocent Batsani-Ncube on Amazon
 
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 & 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 Wang Yi Chose Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania & Lesotho for His 2026 Africa Tour

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