The China in Africa Podcast

A lively discussion on China's engagement across Africa hosted by veteran journalists Eric Olander in Paris and Cobus van Staden in Cape Town.

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The China in Africa Podcast Episodes		Date
PLAY	Chinese migrants in Africa: Myth vs. Reality	May 12, 2013
	Just how many Chinese immigrants are there in Africa? Well, no one really knows. This and other poorly understand facts surrounding Chinese migration to Africa are the focus of our show this week with special guest Professor Giles Mohan of the Open University in the UK.
PLAY	The AidData Controversy: Tracking Chinese Finance in Africa	May 5, 2013
	AidData's use of media reports to track Chinese investment and aid in Africa has prompted a heated debate with academics who charge the organization of using unreliable information to form conclusions about the scope of China's finances in Africa | China-DRC scholar Johanna Jassen with an update on the landmark Sicomines deal.
PLAY	Chinese migrants in Africa are there to stay	May 1, 2013
	Chinese migration to Africa is becoming an increasingly sensitive subject across the continent, particularly as it relates to small-scale merchants where they compete directly with locals | China, Africa and the IMF: who does more to help African sovereignty? | Is China's political system a model for Africa?
PLAY	China-Africa: is the honeymoon over?	April 21, 2013
	Author & scholar ambassador David Shinn is our special guest this week to discuss US and Chinese competition in Africa | Zimbabwe's Deputy Prime Minister has a 'tough love' message for China and a 'wake up' call for Africans | Is the China-Africa relationship now headed for a collision?
PLAY	China-Africa relations in the age of social media	April 14, 2013
	Social media is having a transformative effect on China's engagement in Africa albeit in very subtle ways | Case study in South Africa and how politicians there are slow to engage constituents while millions of Chinese immigrants rely on social networks for business and personal connections | Michael Sata 2.0: the president returns from a week-long visit to China where he sounded very different than the firebrand opposition politician that he was just a few years ago.
PLAY	Mr. Xi Goes to Africa	April 3, 2013
	EDITOR'S NOTE: OUR SINCERE APOLOGIES FOR THE POOR AUDIO QUALITY THIS WEEK. WE EXPERIENCED AN UNFORESEEN TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY THAT HAS NOW BEEN CORRECTED. China's wrapped up his first overseas visit with a tour of three African countries | China's current challenges in Africa placed in a history context | Chinese racial identity and how that complicated Beijing's close integration with Africa and the assimilation of Africans into Chinese society.
PLAY	Chinese doctors 'pulling bullets from bodies' in Mali	March 25, 2013
	A discussion on the state of Chinese medical aid in Africa with a particular emphasis on the work doctors are doing in war-torn Mali | Professor David Shambaugh is the second prominent figure to publicly slap China in another blow for China's public image in Africa | Preview of president Xi Jinping's role at the upcoming BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa.
PLAY	Nigeria's central bank chief sets new tone for China-Africa ties	March 17, 2013
	Nigeria's Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi's warning that his country and the entire continent should regard China as an aggressive competitor sets the tone for a new stage of Sino-African ties, one where African leaders may become far more assertive | The upcoming BRICS summit in Durban South Africa | China's new president Xi Jinping will be accompanied by his celebrity wife, Peng Liyuan, on his inaugural overseas visit | The state of Sino-African scholarship.
PLAY	A rally cry for the US to catch up to the Chinese in Africa	March 10, 2013
	US Senator Chris Coons sounded the alarm that the United States is rapidly falling behind the Chinese when it comes to overall engagement in Africa and if Washington does not take action it may be too late | How China's non-interference policy is complicating the West's aid agenda in Africa | The mysterious Airbus plane that is allegedly linked to the powerful China International Fund that is supposedly being used to smuggle out hundreds of millions of dollars in blood diamonds from Zimbabwe.
PLAY	China's role in the illegal African ivory trade	March 3, 2013
	The NY Times and National Geographic track the "trail of blood" in the illegal African ivory trade that leads to China. While there is understandable outrage, the issue is far more complex than how it's being framed in the Western media | Chinese arms sales to Africa | How the Australian mining giant Rio Tinto lost big to the Chinese in Mozambique.
PLAY	Zambia & Botswana Push Back Against Chinese	February 24, 2013
	Zambia takes control of a controversial Chinese-owned mine while Botswana's president says he intends to limit the number of infrastructure contracts that go to the Chinese | Academics accuse Human Rights Watch on incompetence about a report on labor conditions in Chinese-owned Zambian mines | The US General Accounting Office issues an excellent report that compares US & Chinese investment trends in Africa.
PLAY	"Sinophobia" on the rise in Lesotho	February 17, 2013
	Chinese migrants in one of Africa's smallest countries, Lesotho, are facing a new wave of hostility and xenophobia | Turns out that low-cost Chinese imports are NOT to blame for South Africa's textile industry woes, according to a new academic report | The tragic case of "Bobby," a young Togolese-Chinese boy abandoned by his parents in Zhejiang province, China.
PLAY	A Chinese view on Sino-African labor relations	February 12, 2013
	A Chinese small-business owner shares his compelling first-hand perspective on the sensitive issue of Sino-African labor relations | A UK-based environmental group reports on massive Chinese illegal logging in Mozambique | China's seemingly insatiable demand for ivory is fueling illegal elephant poaching in ZImbabwe. The key issues for both logging and elephant is who is responsible and what, if anything, is possible to limit the environmental damage?
PLAY	John Kerry on US-China-Africa relations	February 3, 2013
	In his Senate confirmation hearings, Washington's new top diplomat John Kerry used some historically loaded language when it came to describing the Chinese in Africa. He will have a very steep learning curve on this issue when he takes office this week | Even if the US is committed to catching up to the Chinese in Africa, foreign affairs columnist Jonathan Power says it might be too late | Why China is placing some big bets on South Africa's platinum mines.
PLAY	How Europe's colonial past helps China in Africa	January 27, 2013
	Professor & Director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, He Wenping, is our special guest this week | The West's colonial legacy hangs over much of Europe's present-day engagement in Africa and how China presents itself without comparable historical baggage | The meme about how France's military operation in Mali is really about containing China in Africa | China places even bigger bets on South African platinum mines.
PLAY	Counterfeit Chinese Malaria Drugs in Africa	January 21, 2013
	How fake Chinese anti-malaria drugs threaten the lives of millions across Africa and China's reputation on the continent | The impact of China-Africa ties on the broader international relations system | A critique from Beijing University on China's government-run volunteer programs in Africa.
PLAY	Chinese volunteers in Africa	January 13, 2013
	A growing number of young Chinese are volunteering in Africa but are they actually getting anything done? | The U.S. Peace Corps vs. Chinese volunteer programs | Chinese in Namibia | Namibia pushes back on a Chinese loan program to build two new roads.
PLAY	Is China really building 100 dams in Africa?	January 6, 2013
	A contentious debate between two leading academics breaks out over whether China is really building 100 dams in Africa | China & Japan eye Zimbabwe's vast coal reserves | In the wake of the uprising in the Central African Republic, China appears to be getting the hang of evacuating its people from troubled African states.
PLAY	Why the US can't compete with China in Africa	December 23, 2012
	Although US officials talk about engaging Africa with as much enthusiasm as their counterparts in Beijing, US foreign and trade policy for Africa remain largely stagnant | How Chinese companies are taking advantage of Africa's free trade agreement with the US as a backdoor into the American market | Why Chinese aid programs in Africa are "much less complicated" than Western development initiatives.
PLAY	Uganda looks to China as relations with West sour	December 16, 2012
	China's huge loan package to Uganda to build the controversial Entebbe-Kampala Highway | Ugandan journalists embark on media training programs in China | counterfeit mobile phones sold throughout East Africa are souring the already questionable 'Made in China' brand.
PLAY	China-Africa education partnerships	December 10, 2012
	China is moving aggressively to be a player in Africa's emerging education sector. Beijing is using both traditional aid development mechanisms as well as investments in technology to enhance adult education.
PLAY	South Africa & China, well, it's complicated	December 2, 2012
	A South African court ruled that the country's delay in granting a visa to Tibetan spiritual leader was "unlawful" | A huge China-Africa trade fair gets underway in South Africa | France and the US recognize they are both falling behind China in the race to develop Africa's emerging markets.
PLAY	China's on/off/on again plan to build taxis in South Africa	November 26, 2012
	The controversial politics behind Beijing Automotive Works plans to break in to South Africa's contentious taxi manufacturing market | Chinese industrial logging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | China's role in helping lift African countries to Middle Income Country (MIC) status, but who really cares?
PLAY	China places a big bet on media in Africa	November 20, 2012
	China sees a huge opportunity to change the narrative of international news coverage of Africa. With huge investments in TV, Internet and print media in Africa, Beijing clearly sees media as an integral part of its overall Africa strategy. University of Oxford research fellow Iginio Gagliardone specializes in Chinese media in Africa is our special guest this week.
PLAY	A new generation of African students in China	November 12, 2012
	The number of African students studying in China has grown 20% a year since 2003 and is part of a broader Chinese strategy to deepen Beijing's ties to the continent | Two Chinese construction workers were shot and killed in northern Nigeria, bringing the six week death toll in West Africa to six | The impact of the elections in the US and China's leadership change on the two superpowers' policies in Africa.
PLAY	Why China's development model is gaining popularity in Africa	November 7, 2012
	Phd candidate Elsje Fourie is the special guest this week to discuss her research on how China's economic development model is gaining popularity in parts of Africa | Anti-Chinese, anti-immigrant journalism in South Africa | The increasingly cozy relationship between Chinese and African elites.
PLAY	Three weeks, three Chinese nationals killed in West Africa	October 29, 2012
	Following the killing of a 16-year old boy in Ghana, two more incidents of violence involving Chinese occur in Nigeria, prompting an official protest from Beijing for Abuja to do more to protect Chinese nationals | Why the leadership change at China's Export-Import Bank may be more important than who becomes the country's next president | Eric & Cobus offer rare praise to a think tank report on China Africa relations.
PLAY	Illegal Chinese gold mining in Ghana, not much anyone can do to stop it.	October 21, 2012
	The recent killing of a 16 year old Chinese boy who was allegedly illegally mining for gold has sparked a new row between Accra and Beijing | The perception of Chinese immigrants in African pop culture | Is China's embarking on a massive agricultural "land grab?"
PLAY	China's Huawei: the US frets while Africa gets wired	October 14, 2012
	Special Edition: Former FCC Chairman Redd Hundt is our special guest this week to explain why the United States is so concerned about Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Meantime, while Washington tries its best to shut out Huawei, Africa is embracing the company and everything it can do to wire the connect for the digital age.
PLAY	China and Africa come together in Canada	October 7, 2012
	Canada is not among the major players when one considers the geo-politics of China in Africa, but given Ottawa's role as natural resource super power in its own right, Canada is a fitting place for a major China-Africa conference | Tanzania is emerging as a new focal point for China | A new Sino-African airline takes flight in Ghana.
PLAY	Technology Designed in Africa, Made in China	September 30, 2012
	We go geek this week on the China Africa podcast with a focus on China-Africa technology cooperation (or the lack thereof). In particular, does the Congo-designed, China-made smartphone Elikia represent a future or trend or just a one-off experiment? Plus, we look at the opportunities for social media and software collaboration between China and Africa.
PLAY	China claims progress in breaking Sudan impasse	September 23, 2012
	China reports progress is lessening tensions between the rival Sudans and is confident oil from the region will begin to flow again soon | Chinese online extremism in response to the killing of US ambassador Christopher Stevens in Libya | A review of an excellent Reuters article on the growing anti-Chinese sentiment in Malawi.
PLAY	China, Libya and America's "flawed strategy"	September 16, 2012
	A commentary in China's official XInhua news agency puts the blame for the recent spate of anti-American violence squarely on the shoulders of Washington's 'failed policies' in the Mideast and North Africa | Why is there suddenly so much news coverage about Sino-Zimbabwe ties? | China embarks on a new round of "building diplomacy," this time in Liberia.
PLAY	Dead elephants, illegal guns and stolen jobs: it's been a bad week for the Chinese in Africa	September 10, 2012
	Two high profile articles in the US press directed international attention towards China in Africa over the Chinese-fueled hunt for elephants and reports that Chinese weapons are "flooding" the continent. To make matters worse for Beijing, there's a growing wave of negative coverage in the African media over the perception that Chinese traders are stealing jobs and business from local merchants.
PLAY	China becomes an election issue in Angola	September 2, 2012
	Frustrations over Chinese labor and low-quality infrastructure are among the key issues in this year's Angola presidential elections | Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi makes a landmark visit to Beijing in his first trip outside of the Middle East | A high profile campaign by one of China's biggest stars to stop illegal ivory poaching.
PLAY	A killing in Zambia puts China's labor practices in spotlight	August 12, 2012
	Zambian authorities are reassuring Chinese investors that their nationals are safe in the country following the killing of 50-year old mine supervisor Wu Shengzai by disgruntled workers at the Collum mine in southern Zambia | India tries to rival China for influence in Africa but New Delhi seeks to employ different tactics | Does modernization equal Westernization in Africa? Not according to our special guest Vijay Vikram, masters candidate at the University of Chicago.
PLAY	Hillary Clinton's veiled swipe against China in Africa	August 5, 2012
	The US Secretary of State subtlety warns African leaders (again) against cozying up too much with China, sparking an immediate and forceful response from Beijing | Malawi introduces a new law against foreign traders, prompting a number of small Chinese businesses to close | the podcast hosts, Eric, Cobus and Anne, spend a little time introducing themselves to the audience.
PLAY	China-Ghana relations in an age of uncertainty	July 29, 2012
	Ghana is emerging as a strategically vital country in China's broader Africa strategy but with the sudden death of President John Atta Mills, tensions over immigration and recent violence related to illegal mining, the Chinese face a growing list of challenges | One week after a huge Sino-African conference in Beijing, we explore if anything was actually accomplished at the FOCAC | A new Chinese joint venture oil pipeline off the coast of East Africa. Join the discussion at www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
PLAY	What African merchants need to know how to do business in China	July 22, 2012
	A growing number of Africans are heading to China to make their riches in manufacturing and to export products back home. But it isn't easy. Our special guest this week, Molson Hart, has extensive manufacturing experience in China and offers his insights on what African traders should do to increase their chances of success. Also, anti-Chinese crackdowns in several African countries plus a discussion on the emerging US-China rivalry in Africa. Join the discussion: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
PLAY	FOCAC: The China Africa Pow Wow in Beijing	July 15, 2012
	Every three years Chinese and African leaders, politicians, NGO-types and others get together for a giant conference known as the Forum on China Africa Cooperation. The agenda for this year's forum, held on July 19-20, will likely emphasize economic issues however environmental and political subjects will also be addressed. Dr. Daouda Cissé of the Stellenbosch University Center for Chinese Studies is our special guest this week and joins us from Beijing. Comment and share the show on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
PLAY	Angola's Chinese-built ghost towns: who's to blame?	July 8, 2012
	Journalist Louise Redvers' BBC report on the Chinese-built ghost towns in the outskirts of the Angolan capital Luanda sparked a heated discussion over who precisely is responsible for this urban planning fiasco | How China is using broadcast media to alter negative perceptions in Africa | Chinese naval forces are on their way to the Gulf of Aden to participate in multinational anti-piracy operations. We welcome your feedback on our show. Please post your questions and comments: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
PLAY	When China met Africa	July 2, 2012
	A discussion with Nick Francis, co-creator of the acclaimed film documentary 'When China met Africa' | Economist and author Dambisa Moyo has a new book out that sounds the alarm over the long-term consequences of China's aggressive hunt for natural resources in Africa | A major Chinese mining company signs an unusual deal for one of South Africa's largest platinum companies--the Chinese firm offered a 23% premium over the next highest bidder, we'll explore why. Share your thoughts on this week's show on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject.
PLAY	Protests in China's 'chocolate city'	June 24, 2012
	Large crowds in Guangzhou's African immigrant community, known in Chinese in 'chocolate city' protested last week the mysterious death of a Nigerian man in police custody | Hu Jintao meets with Ethiopian PM Seles Menawi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Mexico | Chinese-African business culture. Special guest: South Africa-based analyst Lu Jinghao.
PLAY	With an eye on China, the US re-orients its policy in Africa	June 17, 2012
	The United States announces a new foreign policy platform for Africa that is eerily similar to China's 'aid not trade' position | Two of China's largest telecom manufacturers get a two-year ban from Algeria for corruption | The pros & cons of China's ambitious stadium diplomacy agenda in Africa and Latin America | Perspectives on the changing face of African demography as Chinese become a permanent fixture of the population.
PLAY	China & Africa: partners in education?	June 10, 2012
	China's growing influence is spreading to the educational sphere but not necessarily to the classroom. Instead, the growth of Chinese-funded IT infrastructure on the continent may have a profound impact on Africa's educational landscape | The brewing controversy over the Chinese-funded dam in Ethiopia that is expected to have major environmental consequences downstream in Kenya | A rallying cry for India to compete with China for investment in Africa.
PLAY	South Africa backs up 'Look East' policy with trash talk	June 3, 2012
	South African political leaders are talking up a controversial new 'Look East' policy that has prompted frustration among its Western commercial partners | How textiles may become the flashpoint of Sino-African trade tensions | Should the US be happy or worried over an expansion of Chinese peacekeeping operations in Africa.
PLAY	Reaction to BBC Africa Debate Special on China-Africa	May 26, 2012
	BBC Africa Debate produced an impressive full-hour special on Friday, May 25th from Lusaka on the Chinese in Africa. On this edition of the podcast, we respond and react to the key issues raised in the program.
PLAY	African states compete for Chinese tourists	May 20, 2012
	South Africa & Cameroon are aggressively courting some of the 77 million Chinese tourists | Chinese manufacturers battle against a reputation of producing low-quality goods | The China Daily launches a new Africa edition.
PLAY	Challenging the myth of Chinese control in Africa	May 13, 2012
	This week on the podcast: a rebuke to a recent NY Time's opinion piece from the Committee to Protect Journalists that links Chinese investment tin Africa to increased media suppression on the content | It's a widely-held perception that Chinese SOEs operating in Africa work under the control of Beijing authorities. Not so says our special guest, South Africa-based China-Africa analyst Lu Jinghao | A recent editorial calls for Africa states to make Chinese investors work harder for the continent's cash and natural resources.
PLAY	China's strategic interests in Sudan	May 6, 2012
	Special guest Zhang Zhongwen joins us from the University of Edinburgh to discuss: China's new diplomatic challenges mediating the conflict in Sudan | the surge in African FDI | the misconceptions surrounding China's engagement in Zambia.
PLAY	China's dollar diplomacy in South Sudan	April 29, 2012
	The Chinese extend a massive 8 billion dollar loan to South Sudan but will that help resolve the RSS' burgeoning conflict with Sudan? | Ghana is now hitching its financial future to China as Accra accepts more and more of Beijing's cash | The debate of over traditional Western aid in Africa versus that from China and other rising powers. Special guest this week: Kwabena Akuamoah-Boateng from the Ghana election project "Ghana Decides" joins us from Accra.
PLAY	Ghana: the new Chinese tributary state?	April 21, 2012
	Ghana goes forward with a $1 billion loan and considers another $6 billion loan | The Sudan conflict deepens, drawing China in ever deeper | A new research report on Chinese traders across southern Africa.
PLAY	Uproar: South Africa's Olympic team outfits to be made in China	April 8, 2012
	The 2012 & 2016 South African Olympic squads will be equipped with uniforms made by Chinese athletic wear company Erke | China-Malawi ties | the prospects for enhanced Sino-African eLearning programs | A Zimbabwe newspaper speculates that Chinese officials have secretly led a coup.
PLAY	China's new man in Africa: Zhong Jinahua	April 1, 2012
	Caixin Media does a revealing interview with China's new top diplomat in Africa | Guinea's iron ore reserves attract the attention of some of China's biggest state owned enterprises | China plans to invest a billion dollars in Portuguese-speaking states around the world, including those in Africa. So what does this have to do with Taiwain?
PLAY	If China gets a cold does Africa get pneumonia?	March 25, 2012
	South Africa's increasing dependency on China spooks investors, prompting a sell-off of the rand | China's massive infrastructure projects prompts new concerns that the quality and maintenance of the new roads, bridges and stadiums are not worth it | Beijing sinks deeper into the Sudanese quagmire as both countries draw China deeper into their conflict.
PLAY	China-Zambia ties on the up and up	March 18, 2012
	China's ties appear to be improving with Zambia when many had thought that the new president Michael Sata would have the opposite effect | Tanzania is now the MOST important country for China in East Africa. Surprised? | A breakdown of the landmark Sicomines deal in the DRC and why after all these years it's still largely misunderstood by the outside world.
PLAY	From 'Made in China' to 'Made in Ethiopia'	March 11, 2012
	One of the China's largest leather shoe manufacturer's plans a huge $2 billion investment in Ethiopia | A growing number of African governments add the Chinese currency, the Yuan, to their foreign reserve portfolio | 32 Chinese killed in South Africa in 2011 | Can China hold on to its policy of non-intervention amid an increasingly large political and economic footprint.
PLAY	China rolls into South Africa with massive new auto investment	March 4, 2012
	China's First Automobile Works announced a $100 million investment plan to build light trucks and passenger cars in South Africa's Coega industrial development zone in the Eastern Cape. This week on the China in Africa Podcast, Eric & Cobus explore the strategy behind Chinese auto manufacturers' push to build more cars and trucks on the continent.
PLAY	China's Sudanese quagmire	February 19, 2012
	China's once groundbreaking investment in Sudan's nascent oil sector may now be coming back to haunt Beijing as warring parties in North and South Sudan draw the Chinese deeper into their civil conflict. In the wake of dozens of Chinese nationals kidnapped by South Sudanese rebels, there are fresh warnings that South Sudan may now expel Chinese oil firms if they are found to be 'illegally trading' with the North.
PLAY	China in Africa Podcast: Beijing grapples with hostage politics	February 5, 2012
	Two hostage crises in the same week for the Chinese in Africa may be a new record. It may also portend a dramatic new challenge confronting policy makers in Beijing as they now grapple with the new reality that their citizens make for easy prey in some of the continent's most volatile regions. This week on the podcast, Eric Olander is re-joined by his China Talking Points co-host Michael McCune for a discussion on the policy implications of the spate of Chinese kidnappings in Sudan and Egypt.
PLAY	China in Africa Podcast: Beijing's stadium diplomacy across Africa	January 29, 2012
	Tens of thousands of Africa Cup of Nations football fans are cheering on their favorite clubs in Libreville in Gabon's newest stadium built with the generosity of the Chinese government. This week on the podcast, we explore whether this so-called 'stadium diplomacy' is actually worth it and if it does in fact provide inroads for Beijing in places like Libreville. Also, we'll discuss the red hot African M&A market along with a review of Eric's most recent blog post on who is exactly are the Chinese in Africa?
PLAY	China's big media push in Africa	January 15, 2012
	China is embarking on an aggressive media campaign in Africa with the launch of CCTV's new broadcast operation in Nairobi, Kenya. The network says it hopes to join BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera among the major players in the international news business. Both Cobus and Eric have their doubts that Beijing is actually capable of attaining that goal given the fact that CCTV does not have a very good track record producing compelling content for an international audience.
PLAY	China in Africa Podcast: China's not interfering, it's mediating	December 13, 2011
	China's top diplomat for Africa, Liu Guijin, intervenes to try and resolve the brewing dispute between South Sudan and Sudan. China's role as mediator is really a first and raises the question as to whether or not this represents Beijing's enhanced global stature or just one a one-off based on China's huge oil investments in the region. We also take a look at how opposition parties in Ghana are drawing lessons on how to position China in upcoming elections. Finally, why it's so incredibly annoying each time the word "colonialism" appears in Western media analysis of the Chinese in Africa.
PLAY	China in Africa Podcast: China's old friend in Africa edition	November 29, 2011
	Episode 2 of the China in Africa podcast: we begin in Ethiopia where the Chinese recently closed a 100 million dollars water supply loan while. Cobus and Eric discuss how this type of project differs from the engagement offered by the United States in the country. Then, we delve into the complexities of China's relations with Zimbabwe and why it alone chooses to stand by Robert Mugabe. Finally, in honor of the November 28 elections in the DRC, we conclude with a discussion on China's increasingly important ties to the DR Congo.