The China in Africa Podcast The China-Global South Project

China maintains a massive lead over the U.S. and other G7 countries in both mining and refining capacity in Africa, a key vulnerability that policymakers in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere say they're determined to rectify.
A new report from the United States Institute of Peace lays out a roadmap for how the U.S. can close that gap with China to achieve mineral security while protecting local labor and environmental standards.
Terence McCulley, a senior visiting expert for West Africa at USIP and a former U.S. ambassador to several African countries, joins Eric, Cobus & Geraud to discuss the new report and whether he thinks it's even possible for the U.S. to rival China's critical mineral supply chain.
SHOW NOTES:
USIP Senior Study Group Final Report: Critical Minerals in Africa: Strengthening Security, Supporting Development, and Reducing Conflict amid Geopolitical Competition: https://tinyurl.com/2yop8jcf
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For much of the past ten years, Chinese technology in Africa focused largely on devices and infrastructure. But today, the conversations also include issues related to governance, online services, and the emergence of artificial intelligence.
Benjamin Dada, founder of the popular African tech news site BenDada.com, joins Eric to discuss the latest Chinese tech trends on the continent and why Chinese firms are still outpacing their competitors.
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Few topics have shaped perceptions about China's engagement in Africa more than the presence of Chinese construction sites across the continent. Chinese contractors have built countless ports, roads, railways, and more, but how that work was done has been very controversial over the years.
There've been widespread complaints about mismanagement, abuse, and discrimination at Chinese-run construction sites across the continent. While there's no doubt some veracity to those claims, many of the allegations are also rooted in vastly different expectations between Chinese managers and local workers.
For some perspective on this complex dynamic, Eric & Cobus spoke with two longtime Africa-China scholars, Mandira Bagwandeen, a political science lecturer at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, and Elisa Gambino, a Hallsworth Research Fellow in political economy at the University of Manchester, to discuss their latest research on Chinese-African labor relations in the construction sector.
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Former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen was in Beijing last week lobbying the Chinese government to move forward with the $1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal project which his son, President Hun Manet, has made the centerpiece of his new administration.
The new canal would connect Phnom Penh's inland port to Kep province on the Gulf of Thailand, creating a new transport link for Cambodia's garment and agricultural exporters, among others.
However, the project is also raising concerns in neighboring Vietnam. Officials there are worried the new canal will divert water from the fragile lower Mekong Delta ecosystem, which provides a vital lifeline for millions of farmers. The Vietnamese also stand to lose a lot of business and are concerned about the potential security implications of the new canal.
Jack Brook, an independent journalist based in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, recently wrote about the canal for a story published in Nikkei Asia and joins Eric to explain why this project is generating so much controversy.
SHOW NOTES:
Nikkei Asia: Cambodia to divert Mekong trade via China-built canal, vexing Vietnam by Jack Brook: https://tinyurl.com/25j2fv3t The China-Global South Project: Q&A: How Cambodia’s Chinese-backed Funan Techo Canal Risks Destabilizing the Lower Mekong Delta: https://tinyurl.com/2adfcr3w JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @leixing77
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
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While many in the West still contend Africa's worsening debt crisis is largely due to excessive Chinese lending, Tsinghua University Professor Tang Xiaoyang argues that accusation just isn't true. 
Instead, the well-known China-Africa scholar contends the main problems facing African borrowers today are anchored in the United States. Most of Africa's debt is priced in U.S. dollars, which is now much more expensive than it was just a few years ago due to higher interest rates set by the Federal Reserve in Washington.
Professor Tang joins Eric & Cobus from Beijing to discuss the current debt situation and what preparations are being made ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit that will take place later this year in Beijing.
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X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @eric_olander
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Enthusiasm for electric vehicles is waning in both the U.S. and China, but that is definitely not the case in other parts of the world where EV adoption rates are steadily rising. In fact, at the Bangkok Motor Show this week, Chinese EV brands are grabbing all of the attention.
Throughout the Global South, Chinese EV brands are expanding their presence in both manufacturing and sales. And unlike U.S.-made EVs that are largely expensive luxury vehicles, the Chinese brands are focusing on small, affordable cars that are within the price range of consumers in Asia, Africa and Latin America, among other places.
Lei Xing, a longtime China automotive journalist and host of the China EVs & More Podcast, joins Eric to discuss why Chinese automakers are looking to developing countries to drive EV sales.
SHOW NOTES:
Subscribe to the China EVs & More Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/27enl2qb JOIN THE DISCUSSION:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @leixing77
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth
FOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:
Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat
JOIN US ON PATREON!
Become a CAP 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 CAP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth