The China in Africa Podcast

The U.S. is rapidly reshaping its trade and industrial policies to build new critical mineral supply chains as part of a broader effort to reduce the country's dependence on China for these strategic resources. So far, however, most of Washington's deals have focused primarily on securing access to raw materials such as cobalt, lithium, and rare earths.
That alone may not be enough to compete with China, which has spent decades investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the infrastructure, processing capacity, and skilled workforce needed to build resilient supply chains.
Zainab Usman, senior research scholar and managing director of international programs at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, recently published a new paper examining how the U.S. is adapting its trade policies to strengthen its critical minerals strategy. She joins Eric and Géraud from Washington to discuss whether these efforts can realistically help the United States narrow the gap with China.
📌 Topics Covered in This Episode
America's critical minerals strategy
U.S.-China supply chain competition
Why extraction alone isn't enough
The infrastructure and workforce gap
Trade policy as industrial policy
Africa's role in the minerals race
Can the U.S. catch up to China?
Show Notes:
United Nations University: The International trade dimensions of the United States critical minerals security strategy by Zainab Usman
Bloomberg Originals: The $10 Billion Hunt for the Rocks That Power the World
Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions: Assessing the U.S.-China Competition for Minerals Crucial to the Development of Emerging Technologies 
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

Kenya's Court of Appeals issued a landmark ruling rejecting the government's decade-long effort to keep secret the $4.5 billion in China Exim Bank loan contracts used to finance the Standard Gauge Railway. The decision marks a major victory for civil society activists who have long argued that the project was plagued by corruption, opaque procurement practices, and unfavorable terms for Kenya.
Eric & Geraud also discuss how a growing dispute between Niger and Benin over a Chinese-backed oil pipeline is exposing the intersection of resource politics, security risks, and Beijing's evolving role in Africa's energy sector.
Finally, the discussion turns to China's new zero-tariff access for African exports, why many African governments may struggle to take full advantage of the opportunity, and how shifting global energy and trade dynamics are once again increasing the strategic importance of African infrastructure and commodities.
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
Kenya's secret China railway loan contracts
Court ruling on SGR transparency
Niger-Benin pipeline dispute
China's shifting Africa investment strategy
Zero-tariff access for African exports
Africa's growing strategic energy importance
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

From the streets of Beijing to the halls of Peking University, Geraud shares what's changed in China after a decade away — and how Chinese scholars are rethinking Africa beyond the traditional "China-Africa" lens. Geraud joins Eric & Cobus from the Chinese capital to discuss the new mood in Beijing, declining foreign presence, and what African diplomats and researchers really think about the future of ties with China.
Plus, French President Emmanuel Macron focused a lot of attention on China during his recent trip to Kenya, where he accused Beijing of becoming the continent's new "predator." And, a breakdown of the latest China-Africa trade numbers that reveal some very big problems.
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
Geraud's return to Beijing after 10 years
The changing mood inside China on Africa
Why fewer foreigners are living in Beijing
Chinese scholars rethinking Africa studies
Macron's China comments during his Kenya visit
Africa's growing trade imbalance with China
Join the Discussion:
X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud | @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

The U.S. created the post-World War II international order that it no longer wants to lead today. But what replaces it is still unknown. So, in the meantime, small and medium-sized countries, so-called "middle powers," are scrambling to form new partnerships to insulate themselves from the inevitable instability that will arise from this transition.
We're seeing this play out daily now as leaders from South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Vietnam, Japan, and dozens of other countries crisscross the globe at a frenetic pace to build what many are describing as a new middle-power coalition.
But Sarang Shidore, director of the Global South program at the Quincy Institute, argued in a Foreign Policy column that it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, for a coalition like this to succeed. Sarang joins Eric to explain why divergent north-south interests will be very hard to overcome.
📌 Topics Covered in this Episode
Rapid global realignment among middle powers
Declining trust in U.S.-led institutions
BRICS and alternative power coalitions
China's growing Global South influence
Transactional diplomacy and diversification
What the next world order may look like
Show Notes:
Foreign Policy: Can Middle Powers Gel? by Sarang Shidore
The New York Times: American Supremacy Is Over, and Something New Is Coming by Sarang Shidore
Politico: Trump Is Demolishing the Global Order. Here's What Might Come Next.
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

With the U.S., Europe, Japan, and China all moving quickly to secure new supplies of African critical minerals, more attention is now shifting to the strategic supply chains that will get those resources from mine to port to market.
The U.S. and Europe have invested billions to refurbish the Lobito Corridor that stretches from the DRC and Angola all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The Chinese have committed nearly two billion dollars to upgrade the aging TAZARA railway that links Zambia to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, joins Eric & Géraud to discuss how Japan is placing its bet on the Nacala Corridor — a much lower profile, yet potentially far more important route that links Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.
Topics Covered in This Episode
Major powers competing for Africa's trade corridors
The strategic importance of the Nacala Corridor
China's role in African infrastructure and logistics
Japan's approach to supply chain diversification
Critical minerals and the race up the value chain
The Lobito and TAZARA corridors explained
Show Notes:
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies: Reciprocal and Resilient Mineral Supply Chains: Lessons from the Nacala Corridor by Paul Nantulya
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