The China in Africa Podcast

For decades, African governments have tried to lure Chinese manufacturing companies to set up factories in their countries with the promise of an abundant supply of low-cost labor. Other than a few high-profile companies, Chinese companies, for the most part, have balked — preferring instead to offshore production closer to home in Southeast Asia. But now that may be starting to change. With the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement now up and running, Chinese firms see an opportunity to manufacture goods for local and continental markets. Three scholars recently surveyed Chinese manufacturing trends in 34 countries between 2003 and 2014 and published their findings in a new Boston University Global Development Policy Center working paper. Keyi Tang, an assistant professor at the ESADE Business School in Barcelona and one of the report's authors, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss their findings and what it says about the future prospects for Chinese manufacturing on the continent. SHOW NOTES: Download the BU Global Development Policy Center Report: Chinese Economic Ties and Low-carbon Industrialization in Africa: https://tinyurl.com/26affcwq JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth FOLLOW CAP 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

Cobus, a commentator on China-Africa relations, delves into the highlights of the recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit. He reveals China's pledge of over $50 billion to African nations and discusses the 10-point action plan shaping future relations. The conversation navigates the shifting dynamics between China and Africa, exploring Beijing's zero-tariff initiative for least developed countries and the strategic complexities surrounding debt diplomacy. Insights into the Tazara Railway refurbishment and broader socio-economic issues round out this engaging discussion.

U.S. officials are grappling with their reliance on China for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt. A new book delves into the challenges U.S. mining companies face at home, amid powerful political pressures. The podcast highlights the pressing need for domestic mining capabilities and ethical considerations surrounding resource extraction. It also contrasts the democratic approach of the U.S. with China's centralized system, revealing structural issues that complicate resource management. The rivalry between the two countries over these vital resources is escalating, prompting urgent calls for awareness and action.

This year's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit comes at a critical time for governments in both regions. While China is embroiled in an increasingly contentious great power duel with the United States, African governments are under mounting economic and social pressures. These challenges are prompting Chinese and African scholars to wonder aloud whether it's time to introduce new reforms into the FOCAC process, particularly more transparency and accountability. Last month, University of California at Irvince scholar Paa-Kwesi Heto and Paul Nantulya, a researcher at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., convened an independent working group of some of the world's foremost Africa-China scholars to discuss this week's FOCAC summit. Normally, these gatherings are conducted off the record, but this time, the participants agreed to allow CGSP to record the discussion and share some of the highlights for the podcast. In this special bonus edition, you'll hear insights from: Li Hangwei, Senior Researcher, German Institute of Development and Sustainability Pamela Carslake, Executive Director, Sin-Africa Centre of International Relations Sanusha Naidu, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Global Dialogue Cliff Mboya, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Johannesburg Centre for Africa-China Studies Frangton Chiyemura, Lecturer in International Development Education, The Open University JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth FOLLOW CAP 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

Final preparations are underway for the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, which begins on September 4th in Beijing. This year's event comes at a particularly fraught time amid wars in Europe, the Middle East and the simmering Great Power rivalry between the United States and China. David Monyae, director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the politics that will frame the summit and why a growing number of African leaders increasingly see their interests aligned with China rather than the West. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth FOLLOW CAP 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

In September 2023, just weeks before Hamas' devastating terrorist attack on October 7th, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his foreign policy advisors were preparing for a summit meeting in China with President Xi Jinping. There were even whispers Beijing would help facilitate a rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia much as it did between Riyadh and Tehran. Now, almost a year later, everything has changed. Sino-Israeli political ties have soured as China aligned with the Arab world and the rest of the Global South in opposition to Israel's war on Gaza. However, while China's standing in Israel has fallen since October 7th, it surged across the rest of the Middle East as more countries in the region regard Beijing as an emerging alternative to the United States. Gedaliah Afterman, head of the Asia Policy Program at the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations at Reichman University, and Research Analyst Allie Weinberger tracked China's Mideast power trajectory in a new article published by the Australian Security Policy Institute. Gedaliah and Allie join Eric to discuss what's behind China's growing influence in the Mideast. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @gafterman Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth FOLLOW CAP 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

Shuang Liu, a finance director at the World Resource Institute, shares insights on the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit. He discusses the significant focus on energy, particularly renewable solutions, as African leaders prepare to pitch development projects. Key topics include China's role in the green energy market, challenges in advancing energy transitions, and the necessity for ongoing dialogue between African nations and Chinese investors. Liu emphasizes the importance of collaboration to ensure successful investment in cleaner energy alternatives.

African leaders are gearing up for the crucial summit in Beijing, focusing on boosting economies and addressing youth unemployment. The infrastructure and energy needs are highlighted, stressing the importance of strategic planning due to China's slowing economy. The podcast delves into the potential for trade expansion, value addition in industries like mining and agriculture, and enhancing agricultural processing through collaboration with China. Discussions also touch on the geopolitical dynamics affecting China-Africa relations and the importance of accountability in financial commitments.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has long touted the East's rise and the West's decline, the kind of thinking that's triggered his supporters to fantasize about a post-Western geopolitical order. While it's indisputable that U.S. and European countries, which represent the foundational pillars of the Western system, have seen their power diminish in the post-Cold War era, there's little credible evidence of a full-blown collapse of Western influence. Instead, King's College scholar Samir Puri argues in his new book "Westlessness," that the role of the West in the international system is changing and not going away. Samir joins Eric & Cobus from London to discuss the emergence of a new, less Western global order. Show Notes: Order "Westlessness" on Amazon.co.uk JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @purisamir1 Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat 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/chinaglobalsouth

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit is now less than a month away. Chinese President Xi Jinping will host dozens of African leaders in Beijing in the first week of September for the triennial gathering that comes at a critical time for African countries and China. Africa needs China's support for continued infrastructure financing and to buy more of its goods, while China is looking to Africa as a vital supplier of critical resources and to develop new markets for its cars, solar panels, and other products that are increasingly shut out from G7 countries. But with very little visibility into the negotiating positions of the various stakeholders, it's difficult to tell what will emerge from this year's summit. Development Reimagined Policy Analyst Ovigwe Eguegu is closely following African preparations for FOCAC and joins Eric & Cobus to share some of his insights on what to expect. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @ovigweeguegu | @stadenesque | @eric_olander Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat 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/chinaglobalsouth