The China in Africa Podcast

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: Comparing US and Chinese Foreign Aid in the Era of Rising Powers by Obert Hodzi and Santino Regilme: 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: 
French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Spanish: www.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
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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:
Why everyone sees the critical minerals supply chain differently and who's missing the full picture
The making of "The Elements of Power" — one journalist's journey from Greece to Congo
Artisanal mining, child labor, and the political ecosystem keeping it alive
How China built its Congo mining empire over 30 years while the West looked away
The Sicomines "Deal of the Century" and what it revealed about Chinese strategy
Small Chinese traders, violence, and the uneasy coexistence on Congo's mining frontier
Indonesia, Western Sahara and the global pattern of extractive exploitation
Why the US critical minerals push may already be too little too late
Show Notes:
Purchase a copy of The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth: 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: 
French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Spanish: www.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:
The scale of Africa's $708 billion external debt and China's 11.5% share
The $52 billion "Great Reversal" — from Chinese lending to debt collection
Why private bondholders now dominate Africa's debt landscape
Interest rate comparisons: Chinese loans vs. Eurobonds
The rise of multilateral development banks and expanded lending headroom
The failures and design flaws of the G20 Common Framework
7. Credit rating agencies, risk perception, and Africa's borrowing costs
Show Notes:
Development Finance Observatory: The Great Reversal
ONE Data: African Debt
Bloomberg: 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: 
French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Spanish: www.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: 
French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Spanish: www.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:
The intensifying U.S.-China rivalry across Africa
China's expanding role in Congolese cobalt and critical minerals
Xi Jinping's duty-free access offer to 53 African countries
Mining versus refining and why processing capacity is the real bottleneck
U.S. efforts to counter China through critical minerals partnerships
Trade imbalances and the limits of African industrialization
Debates in Washington over corruption and China's business practices
Governance in the DRC and the deeper roots of regional instability
Sign up for Semaphor's Africa and China newsletters:
Semafor Africa: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/africa
Semafor 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: 
French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
Spanish: www.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