The China in Africa Podcast

[PLEASE NOTE THAT FROM TIME TO TIME THERE IS SOME AUDIO STATIC THAT APPEARS INTERMITTENTLY DURING SOME OF JOANNA'S ANSWERS. IT DOESN'T LAST LONG AND WE TRIED TO MINIMIZE IT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. OUR APOLOGIES FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.] Public perceptions of China vary markedly depending on where you live in the world. In wealthy advanced economies in the Global North, negative sentiment towards China is now at all-time highs and getting worse. But it's a very different story in many developing countries in the Global South, particularly in Africa, where public opinion surveys continually report more favorable views towards the Chinese. Of course, this is a complex issue where China provokes a diversity of opinions, making it nearly impossible to get a definitive sense of what people feel about Beijing's growing influence in their countries. Veteran journalist Joanna Chiu set out on a trans-continental odyssey to try and find out more about how people in Western countries perceive China for her new book "China Unbound: A New World Disorder." Joanna joins Eric & Cobus to share some of her findings and to discuss why she feels there's such a huge discrepancy between how people in the Global North view China compared to sentiments in the Global South. SHOW NOTES: Amazon.com: Purchase a copy of China Unbound: A New World Disorder SupChina: China Unbound: The implications of China’s expanding influence by Mike Cormack NüVoices: The international editorial collective of writers, journalists, translators and artists that showcases the diverse creative work of women, non-binary people, and minorities working on the subject of China. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @joannachiu JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the run-up to Forum on China-Africa Cooperation conference that will take place later this month in Dakar, CAP is speaking with a wide spectrum of activists, analysts, and other thought leaders about what they think should be on the agenda when Chinese and African ministers convene. This week, Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, a researcher at the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research joins Eric & Cobus from Johannesburg to share a leftist, socialist perspective on Sino-Africa engagement and why China's arrival in Africa in the early 2000s helped to break the continent's historical dependence on U.S. and European powers. RELATED READING: Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research: ‘Serve the People: The Eradication of Extreme Poverty in China’  JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @MikaelaNhondo JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Eric & Cobus discuss the Chinese response to the military coup in Sudan and how it differs from Beijing's reaction to September's coup in Guinea. Plus, Cobus explains why he's not optimistic about the outcomes for developing countries from the upcoming Glasgow climate summit and should African countries expect much regarding debt relief from this weekend's G20 leaders summit in Rome. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque  JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

China-Africa trade figures for the first eight months of the year are in and they look solid. So good, in fact, that the two sides appear on track to surpass last year's $187 billion in two-way trade. But those big numbers conceal some deeper problems, everything ranging from the large trade deficits in most African countries to high levels of debt in other states. Anzetse Were, a Nairobi-based development economist who's been closely following China-Africa economic ties for more than a decade, is nonetheless optimistic. She joins Eric & Cobus to explain why the growth in Chinese corporate engagement on the continent is going to be the critical factor. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque  JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The triennial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit is just weeks away now and speculation is now starting to build as to what will be on the agenda. As of now, very little is known as to what's going to happen, not even the specific dates when the event will take place in Dakar, Senegal. Nonetheless, expectations are high that the forum will produce tangible outcomes for Africa on issues related to debt relief, infrastructure financing, and public health among others. Folashadé Soulé, a senior research associate at Oxford University, spoke with diplomats, policymakers and civil society stakeholders in several West African countries to find out what they're hoping to achieve at FOCAC. Folashadé joins Eric & Cobus to discuss what they said and to her predictions of what she thinks will be on the agenda. SHOW NOTES: SAIIA: Mapping the Future of Africa–China Relations: Insights from West Africa: https://bit.ly/3Bj6VL2 LSE IDEAS: FOCAC at 21: Future Trajectories of China-Africa Relations: https://bit.ly/3m04jg2 AFRICA CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation at 21: Where to Next?: https://bit.ly/2Zh8YSc JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @folasoule JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is the showcase in Africa for China's debt-led infrastructure development drive. While critics accuse China of saddling Nairobi with unsustainable levels of debt to build the rail line that goes from the port of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi and then on to Naivasha in the Rift Valley, the reality is actually a lot more complicated. It turns out that Kenya lawmakers worked hard to circumvent their own laws, conceal the terms of the deal and, most likely, pocketed millions for themselves along the way. Oscar Otele, a political science lecturer at the University of Nairobi, has been studying the complex, messy politics surrounding the SGR for the past eight years and summarized some of his research's key findings in a recent article published on the Council on Foreign Relations website. Oscar joins Eric & Cobus from Nairobi to discuss why the simple narratives about the SGR are not even remotely accurate. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An often contentious leaderless summit took place last in Montepellier where African youth activists did not hold back in telling French President Emmanuel Macron what they thought needed to be done to improve ties between the two regions. Eric & Cobus look at what lessons China, the U.S., and others can take away from the heated exchanges that took place. Plus, a preview of what might be on the agenda at the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit that is expected to take place next month in the Senegalese capital Dakar and the guys dive into a billion port development deal led by the UK and the United Arab Emirates. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Zambia owes at least 18 Chinese creditors $6.6 billion, nearly twice as much as previously stated, according to a new report published by the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at Johns Hopkins University. And that figure may be even higher as it doesn't account for penalties accrued by various Zambian borrowers who've fallen behind in their payments. While these latest findings confirm Zambia indeed has a very serious Chinese debt problem, the CARI report, however, details why the situation there is actually very different from that of other African countries that are also struggling to repay Chinese loans. The report's two authors, CARI Director Deborah Brautigam and Senior Research Assistant Yinxuan Wang join Eric & Cobus from Washington to discuss their findings and explain why Zambia is an outlier when it comes to Chinese debt in Africa. SHOW NOTES: China-Africa Research Initiative: How Zambia and China Co-Created a Debt "Tragedy of the Commons" by Deborah Brautigam China-Africa Research Initiative: Zambia’s Chinese Debt in the Pandemic Era by Deborah Brautigam and Yinxuan Wang JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque  JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject Your support of this podcast helps to keep the show on the air. Thank you! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you're confused about China's stance on the use of coal, well, you're definitely not alone. This week, China went on a global coal buying binge in a frantic effort to put a stop to rolling blackouts that have afflicted millions of residents, factories, and businesses in at least nine provinces over the past several weeks. But just two weeks earlier, President Xi Jinping told everyone at the United Nations General Assembly that Beijing planned to phase out the use of dirty fuels as part of an ambitious effort to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030. And the President also said his government would halt the building of new coal-fired power plants abroad. So, China is doubling down on coal at home while abandoning the dirty fuel abroad? Rishikesh Ram Bhandary, assistant director of Boston University's Global Economic Governance Initiative and a leading expert on renewable energy in BRI countries joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the complex, confusing role that coal plays in Chinese energy policy. SHOW NOTES: The Journal of Energy Research and Social Science: Banking on coal? Drivers of demand for Chinese overseas investments in coal in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @rishirbhandary JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject Your support of this podcast helps to keep the show on the air. Thank you! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

While the Ghanaian government took decisive action earlier this year to crack down on illegal mining known as Galamsey where Chinese illegal mining interests have been active for years, Accra has done absolutely nothing to combat persistent illegal fishing in its waters. Foreign fishing companies, predominantly from China, operate with impunity in full view of the government who together are contributing to an ecological and humanitarian catastrophe, according to the findings from a recent report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). In fact, EJF asserts that years of over-fishing by industrial fleets have decimated local fish stocks to the point where the small-scale fishing boats too often return empty. Socrates Segbor, the Ghana fisheries program manager at EJF, and Professor Wisdom Akpalu, dean of the school of research and graduate studies at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration both contributed to the report and join Eric & Cobus to explain China's role in this crisis and what, if anything, they think can be done to avert a full-blown disaster. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @ejfoundation JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff including our Week in Review report, invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject Your support of this podcast helps to keep the show on the air. Thank you! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.