In Mark Kapchanga’s view, the West, particularly the media, really does not understand what the Chinese are doing in Africa. Kapchanga, a provocative Nairobi-based journalist and columnist, isn’t shy in arguing his case that on balance China’s presence in Africa is net plus for the continent and its people. The West, he says, just doesn’t have its priorities right in Africa, whereas Beijing’s massive infrastructure spending across the continent is the kind of engagement that has a direct impact on peoples’ lives.
Kapchanga writes a regular column in the Chinese state-owned newspaper Global Times that unsurprisingly takes a stridently pro-P.R.C. stance. Although the Kenyan journalist does have some critical views of Chinese policy in Africa, few if any of those opinions make it past the newspaper’s editors and censors.
While Kapchanga’s outlook on Sino-African relations in print may be filtered, he doesn’t hesitate in the least when he joins Eric and Cobus for a full debrief of his views about the state of the Chinese in Africa.
Recommendations
- “Africa’s Language Shift,” Mark Kapchanga, Global Times, May 24, 2015
- “Chinese Work Ethic in Africa,” Mark Kapchanga, Global Times, February 2, 2015