Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China-Africa relations.
Case Study: Chinese Agricultural Firm Uses Drones to Fight Pests in Zambia
China is playing an increasingly larger role in African agriculture. Chinese influence through business investment, training, value addition and capacity building is intensifying, and reshaping perceptions. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce is funding around twenty Agricultural Technology
Case Study: Chinese Cement Company Builds a Solid Foundation in Zambia
China’s growing economic muscle in Africa frequently raises fears of domination. However, on the ground, these companies often create jobs and try to comply with laws aimed at strengthening local stakeholdership. A case in point is the Sinoma Cement Company, a Chinese company set up in Zambia ...
Podcast Transcript: China’s Distant Fishing Fleet Is Decimating What’s Left of Ghana’s Fish Stocks
Eric: Hello and welcome to another edition of the China in Africa podcast. I'm Eric Olander and as always, I'm joined by Cobus Van Staden, a senior China, Africa researcher at the South African Institute of international affairs ...
At TICAD7, China is Invisible, but Ever-Present
There’s a real disconnect at TICAD7 this year. This gap isn’t between Japan and Africa. Rather it’s between the experience of being inside TICAD and how it’s represented in the media. The dominant outside narrative is that TICAD is all about China – in
What African Banks Can Learn from Chinese Fintechs
In 2017, mobile technologies and services generated 7.1% of GDP across Sub-Saharan Africa, and Mckinsey found a sharp rise in the number of mobile financial services such as peer-2-peer borrowing, group savings and micro-loans among others. ...
China-Africa 101: Do Regular Africans Approve? Polls & Stories on China’s Likeability
Many African leaders often praise the Asian country as a reliable partner in Africa. They say their relationship is a “win-win,” and paint an optimistic picture for the future. Critics, however, are skeptical. They believe that the close relationship ...
Case Study: Chinese Recycling Firm Creates Jobs while Cleaning Up Lusaka
Isabel Tembo, a mother of 2, wakes up every morning and heads to a local dumpsite in Zambia’s capital - Lusaka to join several other jobless women who pick through piles of garbage to collect plastic bottles for sale. ...
Q&A: Chinese Sales of Surveillance Technology to African Governments is Understandably Worrisome but in no way Exceptional
The recent Wall Street Journal investigation that revealed Huawei employees allegedly aided the Ugandan and Zambian governments to spy on political opponents confirmed, in many peoples' minds, the suspicions about Huawei and how the company presents a viable threat to civil rights, particularly in non-democratic societies. ...
Podcast Transcript: Will China Come to the Rescue of South Africa’s Ailing Energy Giant Eskom?
Eric: Hello and welcome to another edition of the China in Africa podcast. I'm Eric Olander and as always I'm joined by Cobus Van Staden, senior China Africa Researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, South Africa. ...
China-Africa 101: Japan & China – Asian Players Competing on the African Continent
During the 2016 TICAD summit, Japan appeared to woo its African counterparts by emphasizing what China has long been criticized for: shoddy quality of projects. Speaking with African heads-of-state in Nairobi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not name China but certainly alluded to the issue of ...