The 2020 China-Africa Critical Issues Guide: 10 Trends That Will Shape Relations

THE 2020
CHINA-AFRICA
CRITICAL ISSUES GUIDE
A Practical Guide to 10 Important Trends
That Will Shape China-Africa Relations in 2020

Introduction
#1 China’s New “Twitplomacy” in Africa
#2 Chinese Tech Reaches Critical Mass in Africa
#3 A New Approach to Chinese Debt Financing in Africa
#4 The Emergence of Chinese-Financed Railways in Africa
#5 Africa’s Precarious Position Between the U.S. and China
#6 Why Africa Matters to China (hint: it has very little to do with resources)
#7 China Finally Makes West Africa a Priority
#8 The Rise of Chinese Private Sector Investment in Africa
#9 China Finances Both Clean and Dirty Energy in Africa
#10 Protecting Chinese People and Property in Africa
The 2020 China-Africa Twitter Guide
About the Authors
About the China Africa Project
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The2020China-AfricaCriticalIssuesGuide|www.chinaafricaproject.com

CHINA-AFRICA RELATIONS ENTERS A NEW DECADE
The China-Africa relationship is not a teenager anymore. While Africa and China have interacted for centu-
ries, 2020 marks twenty years since the initial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation ministerial meeting.
FOCAC established a formal platform for the China-Africa relationship. Its influence was tectonic: the world’s
emerging economic superpower linking hands with the world’s youngest population. It was a meeting that is
already shaping the 21st century. Since then, FOCAC has seen about $155 billion in Chinese financing
pledged to African projects. It was also upgraded to a full summit, widened its parameters to include fields like
peacekeeping, wildlife conservation and training, and gave us thousands of pictures of Chinese and African
leaders shaking hands against a sea of flags.
But massive as FOCAC is, it is only a fraction of the real China-Africa relationship. The last two decades have
also witnessed massive investment by private and state-owned Chinese companies across Africa, the spread
of Chinese-funded and built data, rail and road networks across the continent, waves of migration between
China and Africa, and some of the most serious Chinese foreign military engagement in the world, including its
first foreign military base.
NEW THINKING
There are a million things to say about this rela-
tionship, but here are two of the most fundamen-
tal: firstly, the China-Africa relationship is a
game-changer, and it requires new thinking. It
completely changes the position of Africa in the
world, and it shifts ‘south-south cooperation’ from
a dusty 1970s bromide into a slow-motion earth-
quake causing anxiety headaches in Washington,
Brussels and Tokyo.
HERE TO STAY
Secondly, it’s not going away. If anything, 2019 has
revealed the relationship expanding into com-
pletely new sectors. At the China-Africa Project,
we keep tabs on the China-Africa relationship day
by day, and this year we saw massive changes, in-
cluding whole new categories of Chinese financing
flooding into Africa, a new centrality of Africa in
U.S.-China geopolitical wrangling, and a 180
degree turn in Chinese public diplomacy on the
continent.
We condensed these developments into ten key
trends that will help you navigate the sprawling
China-Africa landscape. For each of these, we give
you brief intro, show you where the action is, who
to follow for insights, and provide a link to an
in-depth discussion that will enrich your under-
standing of these developments. We also provide
a list of the key figures in the rapidly growing Chi-
na-Africa Twitterverse.
Eric Olander
Managing Editor
Dr. Cobus van Staden
Director of Research and Analysis
Lintao Zhang / POOL / AFP
03

Chinese ambassadors and diplomatic missions in a number of African countries are ramping up their use of
Twitter and Facebook as part of a new social media-powered public diplomacy strategy. Chinese “Twitplo-
macy” in Africa is a new trend that emerged in 2019, and it will likely accelerate in 2020 as more embassies,
diplomats and even Chinese state-owned companies in Africa go online. Already the Chinese are using their
new presence on Twitter to push back against critics in Africa. This will probably intensify in the year ahead
as Chinese diplomats become more adept at Western social media.
Nine diplomatic missions and four Chinese ambassadors in
Africa have Twitter accounts as of January 2020 but more are
expected to go online this year.
Since Twitter is blocked in China, few Chinese constituents are
even aware of this new form of public diplomacy.
Chinese diplomats in Africa also use Twitter to try and influence
local views on sensitive domestic Chinese issues like Xinjiang
and Hong Kong.
#1 CHINA'S NEW TWIPLOMACY IN AFRICA
3 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Chinese officials in Africa have traditionally been averse to
direct civil society engagement. That appears to be changing
with their recent adoption of Twitter. The Twittersphere is
also a new front in the ongoing U.S.-China rivalry. So far,
American officials have largely ignored critical tweets by
Chinese diplomats in Africa, but in 2020 Twitter could
become a new stage for open rivalry between the U.S. and
China in Africa.
HERE’STHEBOTTOMLINE
Learn how China’s new Twitter diplo-
macy in Africa is ramping up as envoys
use the platform to challenge the U.S.
and other critics
1
2
3@AmbLINSongtian
Chinese ambassador to South Africa,
Lin Songtian
@China_Amb_Zim
Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Guo Shaochun
04

The Chinese technology presence in Africa is now so large that it will be very difﬁcult for rivals to catch up in the
immediatefuture.Transsion’smobilephonebrands,particularlytheTecnomodel,currentlydominatemorethan
50% of the African market. It’s the same in the fast-growing streaming music market, where Chinese-owned
Boomplay crushes Spotify and Apple Music in Africa, as well as in the IT infrastructure market, where Huawei is
the key player. This trend is only going to intensify in 2020 as more Chinese hardware brands enter the market
and Chinese venture capital/private equity players invest millions, possibly billions, of dollars in the African tech
sector. Financial services currently seem particularly ripe for investment.
Shenzhen-based Transsion Holdings now controls 64% of the
African feature phone market and is number one in smartphones
with a 36% market share.
TheTranssion/Netease-ownedBoomplaystreamingmusicservice
now has 62 million subscribers across Africa. This year it plans to
expand into francophone markets in Africa and Europe.
Huaweireportedlybuilt75%ofAfrica’s4Gtelecominfrastructure
and is poised this year to become the dominant player in the
AI-powered surveillance market with its “Smart City” product.
#2 CHINESE TECH REACHES CRITICAL MASS IN AFRICA
Transsion’s 2019 IPO, which valued the company at around
$7 billion, proved the promise of the African tech market,
and generated widespread excitement among other Chinese
companies and investors about this large and growing
market. These Chinese companies are now so dominant that
they will be able to set the standards for next generation
technologies like 5G in Africa.
Andile Masuku, host of the Africa Tech
Roundup Podcast, discusses the rise of
Chinese technology in Africa.
1
2
3
@iginioe
Iginio Gagliardone, author of China,
Africa and the future of the Internet
@curiouszoo
Stephany Zoo, founder of the China
Africa Tech Initiative
05

The Chinese are introducing new debt financing models to fund infrastructure development in Africa. These are
intended to be more sustainable than conventional loans, or the once-popular resources-for-infrastructure
(RFI) deals. This new financing model, known as the “China-Africa Swap” spreads the risk more evenly between
Chinese and African stakeholders, often includes private sector partners and purportedly has a clear path to
profitability in order to repay the loans. The Chinese will likely finance fewer projects in 2020 than in previous
years, opting instead to focus on projects considered financially feasible, and financing them with both loans and
these new “swaps.”
The Chinese did not invent the RFI financing model but certainly
used it heavily over the last decade in Africa, where it became
known as the “Angola Model” following a $2 billion oil for
infrastructure deal.
The new “swaps” financing model can be seen as a response to
criticism by the United States that China engages in predatory
lending or “debt trap diplomacy” in Africa.
The push for a revised Chinese infrastructure financing model
also came from African governments. Roughly a third of African
countries face high risk of debt distress.
#3 A NEW APPROACH TO CHINESE DEBT FINANCING IN AFRICA
There are a number of reasons to be concerned about
Chinese lending practices in Africa. Issues related to
transparency, corruption and wasteful spending are all
well-documented. But there is no evidence to support the
charge that Beijing is behaving in a predatory manner. The
transition of the Chinese lending model away from RFIs
towards swaps is partially intended to address concerns
about economic sustainability in Africa and highlights the
fact that Beijing’s approach is rapidly evolving.
Professor Deborah Brautigam from
the China-Africa Research Initiative
debunks the widely-held accusation
that China engages in “debt trap” di-
plomacy.
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2
3
@pazeeboy
Henry Kyeremeh, debt management
expert in the Ghanaian Ministry of Fi-
nance
@D_Brautigam
Deborah Brautigam, Director of the
China-Africa Research Initiative at
Johns Hopkins University
06

DuringcenturiesofEuropeanruleinAfrica,notasinglecross-borderrailwaywasbuiltonthecontinent.Railway
lines ran to a colony’s border and stopped. After independence, the West spent hundreds of billions of dollars in
aid but never helped Africa to invest in cross-border transportation. The emergence of a vast, interconnected
Chinese-financed and constructed Standard Gauge Railway network linking several African countries changes
thistrend.SGRlinesarealreadyoperational inEthiopia,KenyaandDjiboutiandunderdevelopmentinTanzania,
Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and Nigeria. These new railways will revolutionize the movement of goods
and people in a part of the world that has long been without efficient regional transportation.
Kenya’s new $3.2 billion SGR line connecting Nairobi with the
port city of Mombasa reduced travel time from 12-24 hours to
just 4.5 hours.
Tanzania is planning to build a vast 1,457 km SGR line from Dar
es Salaam to the shores of Lake Victoria and wants to eventually
link all of East Africa to its major ports in Dar and Bagamoyo.
Three Chinese-constructed and financed SGR lines in Nigeria
are either currently operational or in development. These new
railway lines will replace large portions of the British-era Cape
Gauge lines.
#4 THE EMERGENCE OF CHINESE-FINANCED RAILWAYS IN AFRICA
While many are very excited about the emergence of new,
modern regional transportation opportunities in Africa,
these new SGR lines also raise legitimate concerns. The
massive debts incurred to build these railways will need to
be repaid and the disruption to incumbent industries such
as trucking will also present significant challenges.
Find out how Tanzania is moving to
position itself as East Africa’s regional
transportation hub.
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2
3@sgr_operation
The Africa Star railway Operation
Company, the Kenyan-Chinese joint
venture that operates the SGR
@RailwaysAfrica
Railways Africa a B2B publication that
covers the African rail industry.
07

Africa has emerged as an important new front in the escalating rivalry between the United States and China.
ThenewU.S.foreignpolicystrategyforAfrica,knownasProsperAfrica,wasdesignedinparttoconfrontChina’s
expanding influence on the continent. Similarly, the dramatic expansion of American development finance in
Africa is also intended to challenge Chinese infrastructure lending. But most importantly, the upcoming U.S.
presidential election could have dramatic consequences for Africa. If President Donald Trump is re-elected,
U.S. trade and political tensions with China will probably escalate, putting more pressure on Africa’s vulnerable
export-dependent economies.
Despite criticism, senior U.S. officials will likely remain committed
in 2020 to the strategy of labelling China as a “predatory lender”
in Africa.
The U.S. seems ready to redeploy some of its forces currently
stationed in Africa. This downsizing comes as China will likely
expand its military presence on the continent through its base in
Djibouti and as part of UN-led missions.
TheU.S.isshiftingitsdevelopmentpolicyawayfromaidtoprivate
sector engagement as part of a broader effort to present African
countries with an alternative to China.
#5 AFRICA’S PRECARIOUS POSITION BETWEEN THE U.S. AND CHINA
The U.S. has failed in its efforts to persuade African countries
about the risks of deepening engagement with China. In
every instance, whetherit’susingHuaweitelecomequipment
or selecting the next leader of a mid-tier UN organization like
the Food and Agriculture Organization, African countries
have sided with Beijing over Washington. It’s unlikely that
dynamic will change in 2020, especially amid heightened
political uncertainty because of the U.S. presidential election
in November.
University of Calgary political science
instructor Chris W.J. Roberts talks
about the impact of Washington’s de-
cision to strip Cameroon of its free
trade privileges.
1
2
3
@AubreyHruby
Aubrey Hruby, Senior Fellow at the
Africa Center at the Atlantic Council
@JDevermont
Judd Devermont, Director of the
Africa Program at the Center for Stra-
tegic and International Studies
08

In pure economic terms, Africa is ﬁnancially insigniﬁcant for an economy as large as China’s. Africa’s total
combined trade with China averages somewhere around $200 billion per year, which is about 0.39% of Chi-
na’s annual global trade balance. In other words – little more than a rounding error. As China expands its Belt
& Road Initiative to other parts of the world, Africa’s economic importance to China will probably decline even
further. But politically, it’s a very different story. Africa, as a 54-nation voting block at the UN, IMF, World
Bank and other international organizations, is vital to China’s broader geopolitical agenda, particularly as a
bulwark against the United States.
The entire African delegation to the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization backed China’s selection to lead the
FAO in 2019 over the U.S. candidate.
Not a single African country, notably including those with large
Muslim populations, backed U.S. efforts at the United Nations
to censure China for the well-documented mass internment of
the Uighur minority population in Xinjiang.
The Chinese government is aggressively promoting the African
adoption of China’s next generation technology standards in 5G
telecommunications, AI and facial recognition.
#6 WHY AFRICA MATTERS TO CHINA
It’s a mistake to view China-Africa relations in purely
economic terms, when the continent is becoming vastly
more important to Beijing in the so-called “Pol-Mil” (Political
Military) arena. Pretty much everything that China buys
from Africa it can source from somewhere else. What it can’t
get elsewhere is Africa’s support for China’s increasingly
expansive geopolitical agenda.
Author Bruno Maçães explains why
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is Bei-
jing’s plan to “build a new world order.”
1
2
3
@ChenDingDing
Chen Dingding, Professor of Interna-
tional Relations at Jinan University,
Guangzhou, China
@cchukudebelu
Onye Nkuzi, the nom-de-plume of a
popular Nigerian commentator on Af-
rican geopolitics
09

West Africa has generally not been a top priority for the Chinese over the past 20 years, because Beijing focused
its economic and political efforts largely in southern and eastern Africa. Now, that is starting to change in a
very big way. Nigeria, in particular, is emerging as a major hub. China is becoming a major oil buyer and funnels
millions into the country’s booming ﬁntech market. It also sees the continent’s largest consumer market as a
prime target for Chinese phones, music streaming and other technology services. Once reluctant to engage
francophone countries, China has now become Senegal’s largest trading partner and selected Dakar as the
site for the next triennial China-Africa mega-summit known as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
(FOCAC).
In a sign of Nigeria’s growing importance as an energy supplier,
Chinese oil major CNOOC revealedthatithasinvested$16billion
inthecountry’soilandgassector.
Just as China gifted the African Union its headquarters building,
Beijing is doing the same for the West African regional block
ECOWAS, by building its new $32 million HQ in Abuja.
China’s red-hot tech companies, like the mobile phone maker
Transsion and its streaming music brand Boomplay, dominate
West Africa’s anglophone markets and are now targeting nearby
francophone consumers.
#7 CHINA FINALLY MAKES WEST AFRICA A PRIORITY
With French inﬂuence in West Africa rapidly declining,
China is now moving in to become the region’s most important
international trade and investment partner. Chinese interest
in the region will likely grow substantially this year in the
run-up to the 2021 FOCAC summit in Dakar.
Economics professor Ahmadou Aly
Mbaye from Cheikh Anta Diop Uni-
versity in Dakar explains how China
has replaced France as the country’s
most important trading partner.
1
2
3@tremanncc
Cornelia Tremann, Gabon-based re-
search analyst and a leading expert on
Sino-West African affairs.
@folasoule
Folashadé Soulé, Senior Research As-
sociate at Oxford University
10

There has been a surge in Chinese private sector investment in Africa over the past several years as companies
look for new sources of growth in one of the world’s last untapped consumer markets. Chinese private tech
companies like Transsion, Huawei and Xiaomi are leading the way, but less visible sectors including agriculture,
manufacturing and automotive, have also seen significant growth. While China’s massive state-owned enter-
prises are still the key players in Africa in terms of size, the increasingly dynamic private sector presence
highlights a growing diversity of Chinese actors in the market.
Chinese financial service companies including the credit card
giant UnionPay and online payment platforms like WeChat and
AliPay have all increased their presence in the African market in
recent years.
Chinese venture capital firms invested around $250 million last
year in African tech start-ups in Kenya and Nigeria.
Chinese textile makers like Jiangyin BaoRui Textile are leading a
wave of light manufacturing companies moving production out
of China to industrial zones in Rwanda, Ethiopia and other
countries in Africa.
#8 THE RISE OF CHINESE PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT IN AFRICA
U.S. and European countries often emphasize the role of pri-
vate companies as a way to contrast their approach in Africa
against China’s state-led model. That’s now starting to
change as Chinese companies and investors make serious in-
roads into the African market. A significant increase in cor-
porate engagement is expected in 2020.
Listen to a discussion with Kai Zhu,
the China-Africa Deal Team Leader at
Absa Group, a major South African
bank, about the rise of Chinese private
sector investment in Africa.
1
2
3@JakeRBright
Jake Bright, TechCrunch reporter who
covers Chinese venture capital/pri-
vate sector investments in Africa
@mrstephendeng
Stephen Deng, Co-founder of the
emerging market fintech accelator
DFSLab
11

Power is the biggest issue in African development today. It supersedes nearly everything else, and China plays
an indispensable role in financing and building new capacity. The Chinese are currently involved in 63 power
projects across Africa, worth $78 billion. While at home China is moving quickly to introduce renewable
energy supplies into its national grid, there are legitimate concerns that Beijing is exporting coal and other
dirty fossil fuel energy solutions to Africa and other countries along the Belt and Road.
Hydropower plants are still the preferred projects for Chinese
contractors in Africa representing 52% of allnewprojectsfollowed
by coal (29%) and gas (10.7%).
At least 24 African countries have contracted new power plants
to Chinese construction companies, with renewable energy
accounting for 56% of total added capacity.
Kenya highlights the contradictions in China’s clean energy
drive in Africa. While backing coal plants in Lamu, the Chinese
also finance and build solar plants like the new 50mw facility in
Garissa.
#9 CHINA FINANCES BOTH CLEAN AND DIRTY ENERGY IN AFRICA
As with so much of China’s engagement in Africa, its role in
the African energy sector is filled with contradictions. Is
Chinafinancingandbuildingvastamountsofnewcarbon-based
energy?Yes. Is it also doing the same in the continent’s green
energy sector? Yes. This raises questions about African
governments’ own vision for the continent’s energy future.
The head of Kenya-based NGO De-
COALonize, Omar Elmawi, discusses
China’s role in the failed Lamu
coal-fired power plant project.
1
2
3@TJMa_beijing
Ma Tianjie, Beijing-based Managing
Editor of the environment news portal
China Dialogue
@AntonEberhard
Anton Eberhard, Director of the
Power Futures Lab at the University
of Cape Town Graduate School of
Business.
12

The 2019 kidnappings of Chinese workers in Cameroon, Nigeria and Gabon highlight the need for increased
security to protect Chinese personnel and property in Africa. The Chinese are especially vulnerable to
attack given their presence in many of Africa’s most volatile regions, including the eastern Congo, northern
Nigeria, and Mali. Now, a new generation of Chinese private security companies are emerging to provide
intelligence and protection services to Chinese ﬁrms in Africa and along the Belt and Road.
Only one Chinese private security company, Hua Xin Zhong An
(华新中安), is permitted to carry weapons when operating
overseas.
There is little if any supervision of Chinese private security
companies operating in Africa by the Chinese government.
They largely operate autonomously.
As of 2016, 20 Chinese private security companies have been
licensed to operate internationally, employing 3,200 security
personnel overseas.
#10 PROTECTING CHINESE PEOPLE AND PROPERTY IN AFRICA
Chinese personnel in Africa are increasingly seen as soft
targets, vulnerable to attacks by kidnap-for-ransom gangs
and terrorists. Chinese companies are increasingly proac-
tive in protecting their people and property, but if the
number of attacks on Chinese assets increases signiﬁcantly
it could become a sensitive political issue for Chinese Presi-
dent Xi Jinping.
Dr. Alessandro Arduino, co-director of
the Security & Crisis Management In-
ternational Centre at the Shanghai
Academy of Social Science, explains
the growing market for Chinese pri-
vate security companies in Africa.
1
2
3@MeiaNouwens
Meia Nouwens, Research Fellow for
Chinese Defence Policy at the Inter-
national Institute of Strategic Studies.
@AmbShinn
David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador
to Ethiopia and currently an adjunct
faculty member at George Washing-
ton University
13

Twitter is increasingly becoming an indispensable social media channel to follow China-Africa relations, with
more and more stakeholders on all sides now active on the platform. Thefollowinglistisaselectionofindividuals
andorganizationsthatwillhelpyougetstartedonChina-AfricaTwitter.
THE 2020 CHINA-AFRICA TWITTER GUIDE
Chinese Diplomats and Missions
@AmbLINSongtia
Lin Songtian, China’s Ambassador to South Africa
@ChineseEmbKenya
The Chinese Embassy in Kenya, who also tweets on behalf of Am-
bassador Wu Peng
@zhaobaogang2011
Zhao Baogang, China’s Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe
Chinese commentators
@shen_shiwei
Shen Shiwei, CGTN commentator and research fellow at Zhejiang
Normal University’s Institute of African Studies
@Xinqing_Lu
Lu Xinqing, Nairobi-based China-Africa agricultural specialist at
the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
@HuangZhengli
Huang Zhengli, Kenya-based University of Shefﬁeld research asso-
ciate, who focuses on China’s impact on urban development in
Africa
African Commentators
@cchukudebelu
Onye Nkuzi, popular Nigerian political commentator
@wruigu
Walter Ruigu, Managing Director of Beijing-based China Africa
Merchant Advisors
@RonnieKulabako
Ronald Kato, journalist and China-Africa Press Centre fellow
中非关系发展的历史进
程中，中国不干预非洲国
家探索符合国情的发展道路，
不干涉非洲内政，不把自己的
意志强加于人，不在对非援助
中国永
远是非
洲的好
朋友,
14

For daily China-Africa news updates and analysis, please follow
China Africa Project Managing Editor Eric Olander: @eolander.
THE 2020 CHINA-AFRICA TWITTER GUIDE
Scholars
@folasoule
Folashadé Soulé, senior research associate at Oxford University,
and an expert in China-Africa negotiations
@WeiweiChen16
Weiwei Chen, SOAS University of London research assistant who
specializes in the effects of Chinese investments in sub-Saharan
Africa
@LBenabdallah
Lina Benabdallah, Wake Forest University China-Africa scholar
Tech
@curiouszoo
Stephany Zoo, founder of the China-Africa Tech Initiative
@iginioe
Iginio Gagliardone, author of China, Africa and the Future of the In-
ternet
@_ail
Adam Lane, Senior Director, Public Affairs, Huawei Southern
Africa
Organizations
@SaisCari
The China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University
@CAAC_Network
The Chinese in Africa/Africans in China Research Network
@AGBA_CN
The Africa Guangdong Business Association
15

Eric Olander is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience
reporting, producing and managing newsrooms for some of the
world's leading editorial organizations including CNN, FRANCE
24 and the BBC World Service among others. He has an extensive
background working in newsrooms and doing content production
in the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Asia. China, though, has been the
central focus of Eric's professional career. He first went to China in
1989 and spent more than a decade of combined time living,
studying and working there. Eric is fluent in both French and
Mandarin Chinese. He received his undergraduate degree in East
African history from the University of California at Berkeley and a
Master's of International Public Affairs with a focus on Chinese
foreign policy from the University of Hong Kong.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Eric Olander
Managing Editor
eric@chinaafricaproject.com
Dr. Cobus van Staden is currently the Senior China-Africa Researcher
at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in
Johannesburg, South Africa’s leading foreign policy think tank
(SAIIA is not affiliated with the CAP and does not fund, influence or
provide any material support). Cobus completed his PhD in Japanese
studies and media studies at the University of Nagoya in Japan in
2008. He focused on comparisons of Chinese and Japanese public
diplomacy in Africa during postdoctoral positions at the University
of Stellenbosch, and the SARCHI Chair on African Diplomacy and
Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg, before joining
the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Witwa-
tersrand in 2013. His academic research focused on media cover-
age of the China-Africa and Japan-Africa relationships, as well as
the use of media as public diplomacy in the global south. He joined
SAIIA as the head of their China-Africa program in 2017.
.
Dr. Cobus van Staden
Director of Research and Analysis
cobus@chinaafricaproject.com
16

The China Africa Project (CAP) is a fully-independent multimedia organization dedicated to exploring every
aspect of China’s engagement with Africa. The CAP is a purely informational endeavor with no partisan
agenda whatsoever and does not advocate on behalf of any country, company or culture.
The CAP was co-founded in 2010 by journalist Eric Olander and media scholar Dr. Cobus van Staden. Until
August 2019, the CAP was a passion project that Eric and Cobus worked on during nights and weekends. Now,
Eric works full-time on CAP to produce the daily email newsletter, podcasts and to maintain the website.
Cobus remains employed by the South African Institute of International Affairs as the lead China-Africa re-
searcher and works on CAP in his spare time.
The CAP produces a mix of editorial content that combines original material with carefully-curated third
party information.
The CAP is funded through a combination of subscriptions to its website and daily email newsletter along with
grants from select foundations.
For more information about the CAP and its funding, please visit: www.chinaafricaproject.com/about-cap
If you would like more information about The China Africa Project, please feel free to contact Eric and Cobus
directly via email:
Eric Olander, Managing Editor: eric@chinaafricaproject.com
Dr. Cobus van Staden, Director of Research and Analysis: cobus@chinaafricaproject.com
ABOUT THE CHINA AFRICA PROJECT
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