The China in Africa Podcast

With the U.S., Europe, Japan, and China all moving quickly to secure new supplies of African critical minerals, more attention is now shifting to the strategic supply chains that will get those resources from mine to port to market. The U.S. and Europe have invested billions to refurbish the Lobito Corridor that stretches from the DRC and Angola all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The Chinese have committed nearly two billion dollars to upgrade the aging TAZARA railway that links Zambia to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, joins Eric & Géraud to discuss how Japan is placing its bet on the Nacala Corridor — a much lower profile, yet potentially far more important route that links Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. Topics Covered in This Episode Show Notes: The Africa Center for Strategic Studies Reciprocal and Resilient Mineral Supply Chains: Lessons from the Nacala Corridor Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te was forced to cancel a scheduled visit to Eswatini this week after Mauritius, the Seychelles, and Madagascar revoked Lai's flight permits. Authorities in Taipei immediately accused Beijing of using economic coercion against these three countries, a narrative that was quickly picked up by the international media and conservative lawmakers in the U.S. There is no evidence supporting the claim of coercion or the reported threat that China would impose economic sanctions or revoke debt relief against these three countries. In fact, none of the African countries involved is in any kind of debt distress to China. Eric, Géraud, and Cobus discuss why it was likely the exercise of African agency, rather than any pressure from China, that prompted the decision to close off their airspace to Lai's plane. 📌 Topics Covered in This Episode Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

China is the indispensable actor in Africa's tech ecosystem. From Huawei's telecom infrastructure to Transsion's dominant smartphone brands and Hikvision's surveillance systems, Chinese technologies are now deeply embedded across the continent, often holding leading market share in their sectors. While the prominent role of Chinese technology has delivered significant benefits to African governments and consumers, it's also raised serious concerns among activists and policymakers around data privacy, the expansion of surveillance capabilities, and well-documented misuse by authoritarian-leaning governments. Bulelani Jili, an assistant professor at Georgetown University and a leading scholar on China–Africa technology engagement, joins Eric and Cobus to discuss his latest research exploring the tension between how Chinese technology can drive meaningful empowerment and create potentially dangerous dependencies. Show Notes: African Affairs: Pedagogies of Digital Sovereignty: The Un/Making Of Dependency Through Technical Education in Kenya 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 Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

The U.S. lags far behind China in the race for critical minerals, electric mobility, power generation, and new energy technologies, among others, but, in the view of many in Washington, D.C., there's still time to catch up. Eric spent a week in the U.S. Capitol talking with key stakeholders in government, academia, and think tanks, to hear firsthand why there's widespread concern about China's lead in these areas, but no sense of panic. Cobus and Géraud join Eric to discuss whether it may actually be too late for the United States to catch up to China in certain sectors and why African countries, in particular, are focusing less attention on ties with Washington as they look to other partners for their economic and development needs. Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

A three-year investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Congolese NGO Premi Congo uncovered severe health consequences for communities living near the Tenke Fungurume Mine (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world's largest copper-cobalt mine. Residents report nosebleeds, coughing up blood, and a troubling rise in stillbirths, all linked to high levels of sulfur dioxide emitted by a processing plant at TFM operated by Chinese mining giant CMOC Group. Luke Allen, a senior African program campaigner and one of the authors of the report, joins Eric & Géraud to discuss how the investigation also exposed major problems in corporate certifications that are supposed to call out this kind of environmental harm, but instead gave cover to the very companies causing it. 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode: Show Notes: Environmental Investigation Agency:https://tinyurl.com/3k72k7fe Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng was in Kenya this week, where he oversaw the first shipment of agricultural products that will enter the Chinese market duty-free. There's a lot of excitement across the continent about China's removal of all import tariffs for goods from 53 African countries. But Yan Liang, an economics professor at Willamette University, argues it's not going to make much of a difference to reduce the swelling trade deficit that most African countries now have with China. Yan joins Eric to discuss a recent paper she wrote that explores China's evolving economic relationship with Africa and how the continent's lack of industrial capacity, among other factors, will keep the trade relationship between these two regions largely intact. 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode Show Notes: International Development Economics Associates:https://tinyurl.com/mrybak59 Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

While the Trump administration has taken a hard line toward Africa through aid cuts, travel bans, and pressure on governments like South Africa, it has also generated more investor excitement in Washington than we've seen in years. Donald Trump's new transactional foreign policy for the continent is prompting newfound enthusiasm from U.S. mining, oil, and security companies. But translating that enthusiasm into actual engagement won't be easy. The majority of U.S. companies taking the first steps into the continent's critical minerals sector, for example, are small, inexperienced, and lag far behind their Chinese competitors. Maureen Farrell, a non-resident senior fellow at The Atlantic Council, is in the midst of co-writing a six-part series of recommendations for U.S. policymakers to bolster U.S. security and economic engagement in Africa. Maureen joins Eric & Géraud to explain why Guinea, Libya, and Mozambique are of particular interest. 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode Show Notes: The Atlantic Council: In Guinea, the US has a rare opportunity to gain an edge over ChinaThe Atlantic Council: The US is reengaging with Libya—and it's the right callThe Atlantic Council In Mozambique, US economic priorities hinge on security investments Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

For decades, the United States was the dominant provider of aid and humanitarian assistance to African countries. That changed last year with the closure of USAID. Washington now says it wants to prioritize trade over aid and is pursuing a more transactional approach to development assistance, linking support to mining access and data-sharing agreements. China, by contrast, has never been a major aid provider by traditional standards. Beijing argues that its support for African countries comes primarily through concessional financing and infrastructure development. Like the United States, China is frequently accused of using assistance as a tool to advance broader geopolitical interests. Obert Hodzi, a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool and a leading China–Africa scholar, and Santino Regilme, a lecturer at Leiden University, recently published a new book comparing U.S. and Chinese aid strategies in Africa. They join Eric and Cobus to discuss why the two approaches may appear similar at first glance but remain fundamentally different. 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode • African countries push back on new U.S. aid deals • Washington's shift from aid to trade and strategic partnerships • China's infrastructure-focused development model • Aid as a tool of geopolitical competition • Growing African agency in negotiating foreign assistance • Key differences between U.S. and Chinese aid strategies Show Notes: Italian Journal of International Affairs:https://tinyurl.com/bdzm34rs 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 Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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 .

The U.S., Japan, and other G7 countries are scrambling to secure critical minerals to end their reliance on Chinese-controlled supply chains. Every week, there's news of another mining deal for cobalt, lithium, and other resources essential to powering 21st century technology. But the race to control critical resources may already be over. Decades before countries in the Global West recognized the importance of these minerals and metals, China quietly built out a vast network of mining and refining operations. Nicholas Niarchos, author of the new bestselling book "The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth," joins Eric & Géraud to discuss the history of the battery metal competition and why China's early moves in this space may have given it an insurmountable lead. 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode: Show Notes: https://a.co/d/0g8xV4n8 Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

For more than a decade, the dominant Western narrative about Chinese lending to African countries has focused on the purported "debt trap." But the data tells a very different story. David McNair, executive director of Global Policy at ONE.org, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss a new report on African debt that challenges many popular assumptions. While African countries owe $708 billion in total external debt, only about 11.5% is owed to China. Meanwhile, private bondholders hold the largest share, often at significantly higher interest rates. More importantly, China has shifted from being a major lender to becoming a major debt collector, as loans from the Belt and Road that surged a decade ago now come due. 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode: Show Notes: Development Finance Observatory:he Great ReversalONE Data:African DebtBloomberg: China's Retreat From Africa Lending Turns It Into Debt Collector by Matthew Hill Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @standenesque Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

Shenzhen-based Transsion Holdings is now a massive Chinese technology company that few people outside of Africa and certain parts of Asia have heard of. Even in China, the brand, now the world's 5th-largest mobile phone producer, remains largely unknown. Transsion gained notoriety after it entered the African market in 2006. Back then, the world's largest phone brands all but ignored African consumers, selling low-end, late-model devices designed primarily for Western and Asian consumers. The Chinese company saw an opportunity and tweaked the software on its phones to optimize photos for darker skin tones, and added a suite of features like dual SIM cards, dustproofing, and longer battery life to sell sub-$100 phones to Africa's booming youth market. That formula worked, and the company's three brands, Tecno, Infinix, and iTel, have dominated the market for more than a decade. But little is known about how Transsion achieved its success in Africa. Lu Miao, an assistant professor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, joins Eric & Cobus to lay out the company's strategy and why it was so effective in a market that others largely ignored. Purchase the book: The Transsion Approach: Translating Chinese Mobile Technology in Africa by Lu Miao: https://a.co/d/04AKaajZ 📌 Topics covered in this episode: • Why rural-first strategy beat Silicon Valley-style scaling • How African distributors helped shape product design and marketing • The importance of dual SIM cards, long battery life, and localized features • The role of Carlcare repair centers in building long-term loyalty • The shift from feature phones to smartphones and rising competition • Growing patent lawsuits and the next phase of AI-driven competition Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

Donald Trump has never thought very highly of Africa, famously referring to the continent as a place of "sh**hole countries." While there's no indication that sentiment has changed, he's recognized that African resources are essential if he wants the U.S. to decouple from Chinese dominanted critical mineral supply chains. In February, the administration unveiled an ambitious new critical minerals sourcing initiative in which African countries, in particular, play an outsized role. But the Chinese have a 20+ year head start sourcing and refining these minerals and metals, so displacing them is not going to be easy. For some perspective on this burgeoning U.S.-China rivalry, Eric & Géraud are joined by two of the top editors at the online news site Semafor. Yinka Adegoke is Semafor's Africa Editor, and Andy Browne is the outlet's Managing Editor, who will oversee Semafor's new China newsletter. 📌 Topics covered in this episode: Sign up for Semaphor's Africa and China newsletters: Semafor Africa:https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/africaSemafor China:https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/china Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

China is rapidly expanding its military engagement with African countries through a combination of joint exercises, growing arms sales, officer training programs, and deeper security cooperation under its Global Security Initiative. This widening footprint is generating unease in the United States, where policymakers and analysts are particularly worried about unsubstantiated claims that the PLA is seeking to build a base somewhere along Africa's Atlantic coast. Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, and Paa Kwesi Wolseley Prah, a post-doctoral fellow at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, join Eric & Géraud to explain why Chinese security outreach is getting so much traction across Africa. 📌 Topics covered in this episode: Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

The United States wants to build a new global critical minerals supply chain through a new alliance that aims to stabilize prices and reduce dependence on China. Africa sits at the center of this shift, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where geopolitics is increasingly shaping mining deals and partnerships. CGSP Africa Editor Géraud Neema joins Eric & Cobus to break down the U.S. proposal and why China's dominance in refining and processing remains a major constraint, raising doubts about whether a minerals strategy focused mainly on extraction can succeed. 📌 Topics covered in this episode: Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

The collapse of the post-war international system now underway will have a disproportionate impact on African countries that rely heavily on multilateral bodies like the UN. Beyond a pull-back of aid and humanitarian assistance, African countries must also contend with an increasingly hostile United States. Dozens of African countries have been targeted by the Trump administration for visa restrictions, trade sanctions, and regularly denigrated by the president himself. At the same time, U.S. diplomats across the continent were ordered by the State Department in January to remind African governments to express more gratitude to the U.S. for its "generosity." Judd Devermont, the former top Africa strategist at the White House during the Biden administration and now an operating partner at Kupanda Capital in Washington, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the future of U.S.-Africa relations and China's expanding presence on the continent. 📌 Topics covered in this episode: Show Notes: Post StrategyOn ChinaThe Guardian: Head of US Africa bureau urges staff to highlight US 'generosity' despite aid cutsChina Power Project: US-China-Africa Relations: A View from Africa 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 Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week will likely be remembered as one of the most significant orations of the early 21st century. Carney channeled the fear and frustration of many global leaders when he defiantly declared that the U.S.-led international order is over. The "rupture" that Carney referenced in his address has profound consequences for China as it moves to reshape a part of this new international order to better align with its interests. Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior research scholar at Columbia University, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why this is such a pivotal time for China as it moves to become a peer power of the United States, at least economically, without triggering the so-called "Thuycides Trap" that dictates this kind of rivalry often leads to war. Show Notes: Foreign Affairs China's Long Economic War — How Beijing Builds Leverage for Indefinite Competition 📌 Topics covered in this episode: 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 Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

While global attention was fixed on the fallout from U.S. intervention in Venezuela and rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi quietly toured three African countries in a notably low-profile visit. Eric, Cobus, and Géraud unpack why this understated trip mattered despite attracting little media attention, and examine its timing alongside a controversial BRICS naval exercise held off the coast of South Africa. 📌 Topics covered in this episode: Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas 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

China's Wang Yi kicked off a four-nation, week-long Africa tour this week, marking a signature tradition for Beijing: making the continent the foreign minister's first overseas trip of the new year. Wang visited Ethiopia and will also travel to Somalia, Tanzania, and Lesotho in southern Africa. Ovigwe Eguegu, a Nigeria-based policy analyst for Development Reimagined, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why these four countries made the itinerary, and what Beijing may be signaling geopolitically and economically. 📌 Topics covered include: Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas Join us 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 this special year-end edition of The China in Africa Podcast, Eric, Cobus, and Géraud look back on the top stories of 2025 and look ahead to the key trend to watch in 2026. 📌 Topics covered include: Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas Join us 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

Every year, illegal mining, fishing, and logging drain billions of dollars from West Africa's economies as the problem persists largely unchecked, with Chinese actors playing an outsized role. Fueled by chronic corruption among local regulators across the region and seemingly insatiable demand for these resources in China, curtailing these illegal activities often feels impossible. But there's still hope. Earlier this year, a group of 21 scholars and analysts, mostly from West Africa, came together to develop new solutions and policy recommendations to reform the mining, timber, and fishing trades, empowering local communities while reducing local corruption. Their findings were released earlier this fall in a series of three reports co-published by the Keogh School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame and the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. Two of the project organizations, Notre Dame Professor Joshua Eisenman, and Caroline Costello, assistant director of the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, join Eric & Géraud to discuss the reports and how China can play a constructive role in helping to end illegal resource extraction in West Africa. 📌 Topics covered include: Download the reports: Chinese mining in West Africa: Responding to the environmental and social impacts Chinese fishing in West Africa: Responding to the environmental and social impacts Chinese demand for timber and wildlife in West Africa: Responding to the environmental and social impacts Show Notes: The Financial Times:The American company seeking to counter China in AfricaForeign Policy: China's Appetite for Rosewood Is Causing Chaos in AfricaEnvironmental Investigation Agency: New Report Finds That Home Depot Sold Illegally Sourced Tropical Wood for Years Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: www.projetafriquechine.com@AfrikChinewww.chinalasamericas.com@ChinaAmericas Join us 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