The China in Africa Podcast

By: The China-Global South Project
  • Summary

  • 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.
    2023
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Episodes
  • A Conversation With Wu Peng, China's Top Diplomat For Africa
    Sep 3 2021

    This week Eric & Cobus sit down with Wu Peng, the director-general of the department of African affairs in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for his perspective on a wide range of issues that are impacting relations between the two regions.

    The conversation also features questions from a trio of experts in China-Africa relations including:

    • Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development (@gyude_moore)
    • Zainab Usman, director of the Africa program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (@MissZeeUsman)
    • Aggrey Mutambo, senior diplomatic affairs writer for the Daily Nation and The East African newspaper (@agmutambo)


    JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

    CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject

    Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @wupeng_mfachina

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    1. The world's only curated China-Africa News Feed with thousands of articles archive

    2. Exclusive analysis of the day's top stories about China in Africa and the Global South

    3. A copy of the popular China-Africa Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox by 6am Washington time M-F

    Try it free for 30-days and see if you like it. Subscriptions start at just $7 a month for students and teachers and $15 a month for everyone else. Subscribe here: www.chinaafricaproject.com/subscribe

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Weaponizing China's Belt and Road Initiative
    Nov 6 2020

    Since its inception in 2013, Chinese government officials have insisted that the Belt and Road is solely an economic initiative and does not have any military motivations. But the BRI's civil-military distinction is no longer as clear cut as it used to be. President Xi Jinping himself called for a strong BRI security system to protect China's overseas interests, people and property.

    One little-known aspect of the BRI is that much of the overseas construction, particularly ports, must conform to standards that conform to the People's Liberation Army's requirements. So, while today there's little evidence that China is leveraging the BRI for security or military purposes, there are concerns that it is positioning to be able to do so in the future should the need arise.

    Daniel Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute, examined the security dimensions of the BRI in a recent paper. Daniel joins Eric & Cobus to discuss what he calls the Belt and Road's "civil-military fusion" in maritime, terrestrial and space environments.

    JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject

    Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @dannyrrussel

    Watch a discussion with the authors of ASPI's report Weaponizing the Belt and Road Initiative: https://youtu.be/PX5PnnnYrFw

    SUBSCRIBE TO THE CAP'S DAILY EMAIL NEWSLETTER FOR JUST $3 FOR 3 MONTHS.

    Your subscription supports independent journalism. Subscribers get the following:

    1. A daily email newsletter of the top China-Africa news.

    2. Access to the China-Africa Experts Network

    3. Unlimited access to the CAP's exclusive analysis content on chinaafricaproject.com

    Try it out for just $3 for 3 months: www.chinaafricaproject.com/subscribe

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    58 mins
  • The New Realities About Chinese Development Finance in Africa
    May 2 2025

    Chinese overseas development finance is unrecognizable from what it was just a few years ago. After suffering tens of billions of dollars in losses, Chinese lenders have moved to de-risk their lending to countries in Africa, Asia, and across the Global South. Instead of those once massive bilateral loans from the two main policy banks in Beijing, Chinese lending now encompasses a much more diverse array of actors, particularly in Africa.

    This new approach was on full display last month when Kenya closed a deal with a consortium of Chinese stakeholders to finance the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway from the current terminus in the Rift Valley to the Ugandan border. A third of the cost to build the new railway will be paid for by the Kenyan government, around another third will be comprised of a consortium of Chinese investors, and the rest will be financed with loans from the China Exim Bank.

    Yunan Chen, a research fellow at ODI Global in London, and Teal Emery, an adjunct lecturer at Johns Hopkins SAIS in Washington, D.C., join Eric & Cobus to discuss their new report, which breaks down the latest trends in Chinese development finance, and to explain why the deal in Kenya should serve as a case study for other African borrowers.

    Show Notes:

    • ODI Global: Greener on the other side? — Mapping China’s overseas co-financing and financial innovation by Yunnan Chen and Teal Emery
    • ODI Global: China’s creditor diversification in Africa: impacts and challenges of infrastructure debt-financing by Chinese commercial creditors by Yunnan Chen and Tianyi Wu
    • South China Morning Post: After delay, new Chinese funding plan will help extend railway to Uganda, Kenya says by Jevans Nyabiage

    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

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    58 mins

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