China Africa Project
The China Africa Project (CAP) is a multimedia resource dedicated to exploring every aspect of China’s growing engagement with Africa. Through a combination of original content and curation of third-party material from across the Internet, the CAP’s objective is purely informational. None of the blog’s authors or producers have any vested interest in any Chinese or African position.
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Last Updated: July 5, 2018
The China Africa Project
09.16.16
Chinese Business’ Complicated Role in Kenyan Corruption
One of the many simple, widely-believed narratives about the Chinese in Africa is that Chinese businesses fuel corruption across the continent. Chinese corporate corruption in Africa is well documented, from allegations of paying off corrupt...
The China Africa Project
09.08.16
Why More Africans Are Learning Mandarin
The South African government’s 2015 decision to start offering Mandarin Chinese classes as a foreign language option at schools nation-wide sparked an uproar that baffled people in other, often more affluent, societies around the world where the...
The China Africa Project
08.23.16
Is Huawei Doing Enough to Train Local Staff in Africa?
The Chinese telecom giant Huawei recently launched a massive publicity campaign to raise awareness in Africa about what it is doing to train local employees. The company has opened at least five training centers in different countries across the...
The China Africa Project
08.17.16
China’s Undeserved Reputation for Building Bad Infrastructure in Africa
The Chinese build more infrastructure than any other country (foreign or African) in Africa. Chinese banks are financing billions of dollars in new loans, aid packages, and other deals to build badly-needed infrastructure across the continent, and...
The China Africa Project
07.30.16
The Honeymoon between China and Africa Is Over and That’s a Good Thing
It wasn’t that long ago when it was all smiles between the Chinese and Africans. The headlines were all about “win-win” development, China’s role in helping Africa to rise above its colonial past, and investment—lots and lots of Chinese investment...
The China Africa Project
07.26.16
There Are a Lot More Chinese Soldiers in Africa Today... And Likely More To Come
Around 2014, the Chinese began to shift their military engagement strategy in Africa to include the deployment of combat-ready infantry units to countries like Mali and South Sudan where the United Nations is being actively targeted by Islamist...
The China Africa Project
07.21.16
China’s Relationship Status with South Africa: ‘It’s Complicated’
South Africa’s relationship with China has undergone a profound transformation in a remarkably short period of time. In less than 20 years, the two countries have gone from barely acknowledging one another to developing a deep partnership that...
The China Africa Project
07.12.16
China Was Once a Hot Destination for African Migrants, Not Any More
It was not that long ago that entire neighborhoods in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou were overflowing with African migrants. Although there are no precise figures, scholars estimated that between 20,000-100,000 African immigrants used to...
The China Africa Project
06.24.16
Why the Stakes Are So High for China in South Sudan
Nowhere else in Africa do China’s financial, diplomatic, and geopolitical interests confront as much risk as they do in South Sudan. Beijing has invested billions of dollars in the country’s oil sector, deployed over a thousand troops to serve as U...
The China Africa Project
06.16.16
China’s Ambitious New ‘Silk Road’ Trade Route Takes Shape in Africa
Four years and hundreds of billions of dollars later, China’s ambitious global trading strategy known as the “New Maritime Silk Road,” or “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR), is now coming to life, particularly in parts of East Africa where major...
The China Africa Project
06.01.16
Online Outrage Over Racist Chinese Ad Says a Lot About How China and the West React to Racism
The company behind the racist Chinese laundry detergent ad that sparked widespread online outrage around the world issued a half-hearted apology for the uproar it caused. Actually, it was one of those “we’re sorry if anyone was offended” kind of...
The China Africa Project
05.26.16
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Chinese in Africa But Were Too Afraid to Ask
The Chinese presence in Africa has been so sudden and so all-encompassing that it’s left a lot of people confused. Chinese farmers now compete for space and customers in Lusaka’s open-air markets, Chinese textiles are undercutting Nigerian...