China's Wang Yi kicked off a four-nation, week-long Africa tour this week, marking a signature tradition for Beijing: making the continent the foreign minister's first overseas trip of the new year.

Wang visited Ethiopia and will also travel to Somalia, Tanzania, and Lesotho in southern Africa.

Ovigwe Eguegu, a Nigeria-based policy analyst for Development Reimagined, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why these four countries made the itinerary, and what Beijing may be signaling geopolitically and economically.

📌 Topics covered include:

• Why Africa is China's first diplomatic stop in 2026
• Somalia Somaliland and great power competition
• Ethiopia debt diplomacy and AU politics
• Tanzania ports and the TAZARA railway
• Lesotho tariffs AGOA fallout and symbolism
• China positioning itself as a multilateral partner in Africa

Join the Discussion:

X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @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 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

This week Eric & Cobus sit down with Wu Peng, the director-general of the department of African affairs in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for his perspective on a wide range of issues that are impacting relations between the two regions.

The conversation also features questions from a trio of experts in China-Africa relations including:

• Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development (@gyude_moore)
• Zainab Usman, director of the Africa program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (@MissZeeUsman)
• Aggrey Mutambo, senior diplomatic affairs writer for the Daily Nation and The East African newspaper (@agmutambo)

JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject

Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @wupeng_mfachina

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHINA AFRICA PROJECT

Your subscription supports independent journalism. Subscribers get the following:

1. The world's only curated China-Africa News Feed with thousands of articles archive

2. Exclusive analysis of the day's top stories about China in Africa and the Global South

3. A copy of the popular China-Africa Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox by 6am Washington time M-F

Try it free for 30-days and see if you like it. Subscriptions start at just $7 a month for students and teachers and $15 a month for everyone else. Subscribe here: www.chinaafricaproject.com/subscribe

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Since its inception in 2013, Chinese government officials have insisted that the Belt and Road is solely an economic initiative and does not have any military motivations. But the BRI's civil-military distinction is no longer as clear cut as it used to be. President Xi Jinping himself called for a strong BRI security system to protect China's overseas interests, people and property.

One little-known aspect of the BRI is that much of the overseas construction, particularly ports, must conform to standards that conform to the People's Liberation Army's requirements. So, while today there's little evidence that China is leveraging the BRI for security or military purposes, there are concerns that it is positioning to be able to do so in the future should the need arise.

Daniel Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute, examined the security dimensions of the BRI in a recent paper. Daniel joins Eric & Cobus to discuss what he calls the Belt and Road's "civil-military fusion" in maritime, terrestrial and space environments.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject

Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @dannyrrussel

Watch a discussion with the authors of ASPI's report Weaponizing the Belt and Road Initiative: https://youtu.be/PX5PnnnYrFw

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CAP'S DAILY EMAIL NEWSLETTER FOR JUST $3 FOR 3 MONTHS.

Your subscription supports independent journalism. Subscribers get the following:

1. A daily email newsletter of the top China-Africa news.

2. Access to the China-Africa Experts Network

3. Unlimited access to the CAP's exclusive analysis content on chinaafricaproject.com

Try it out for just $3 for 3 months: www.chinaafricaproject.com/subscribe

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special year-end edition of The China in Africa Podcast, Eric, Cobus, and Géraud look back on the top stories of 2025 and look ahead to the key trend to watch in 2026.

📌 Topics covered include:

• Simandou goes online (Guinea) and the iron ore geopolitics shift
• Zambia's Kafue River spill and the China narrative battle
• China's manufacturing push, overcapacity, and export pressures
• Soybeans and South America's growing leverage in U.S.–China trade
• China–India détente and what it changes (and doesn't)
• G20 turbulence around South Africa and global governance fractures
• 2026 outlook: Southeast Asia rivalry, Zimbabwe lithium value-add, Senegal hidden debt

Join the Discussion:

X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @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 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

Africa's industrialization push is colliding with the defining economic question of this era: how can any country or region climb the manufacturing value chain so long as China dominates industrial production of pretty much, well, everything?

But even if overcoming the China question is possible, African leaders then face a second, more daunting obstacle: infrastructure. The lack of reliable power, water, roads, and other infrastructure necessary to support industrialization is severe in many parts of the continent.

A new book by Professor Carlos Oya, a preeminent China-Africa scholar at the University of London, details China's complex role in Africa's pursuit of industrialization. Eric & Cobus speak with Carlos about how China is simultaneously a big challenge and an important part of the solution.

Topics covered

• Why industrialization is back at the center of African economic strategy
• The infrastructure constraint: electricity costs, reliability, and targeted hubs
• Ethiopia's experience: what worked, what didn't, and why it mattered
• China's evolving role: from policy-bank infrastructure to private manufacturing plays
• The evidence on "Chinese labor" myths and what research actually shows

Download the book (free):

• Cambridge University Press: China for Africa's Industrialization? by Carlos Oya

Join the Discussion:

X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @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 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. and the DR Congo signed a landmark deal on critical minerals during President Félix Tshisekedi's visit to the White House this week. The pact provides the U.S. with extraordinary access to the Congolese mining sector and is widely expected to inhibit Chinese mining companies in the DRC from expanding their operations.

CGSP Africa Editor Géraud Neema joins Eric & Cobus to break down the details of the deal and explain why what happened in the DRC could set a dangerous precedent for Chinese mining operations in other African countries.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH & 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. absent from two major international summits this month, the G20 in South Africa and the COP30 in Brazil, we got an early look at what the post-American order is starting to look like. In both instances, China moved to fill the void left by the U.S., taking on a much more prominent role.

Anika Patel, China analyst at the non-profit climate news site Carbon Brief, reported extensively from COP30 and noted a key difference in Beijing's messaging at the different summits in Johannesburg and Belém. In South Africa, Chinese Premier Li Qiang sought to position Beijing as an emergent global norm-setter, whereas in Brazil, the Chinese delegation explicitly rejected a leadership role.

Anika joins Eric & Cobus to discuss China's complicated position at the COP30 summit and why, even though it's the world's leader in climate energy and technology, the country explicitly doesn't want the designation "climate leader."

📌 Key topics in this episode:

• China's unusually prominent role at COP30 as the U.S. stayed away
• Why China rejects the "climate leader" label despite its influence
• How consensus politics shaped COP30 outcomes on finance, fossil fuels, and just transition
• Climate finance tensions and China's insistence on developing-country status
• Battles over CBAM, EV tariffs, rare earths, and other unilateral trade measures
• How developing countries weigh cheap Chinese green tech against local industry goals
• Why China's carbon market, energy transition, and pavilion drew huge interest at COP30

SHOW NOTES:

• Carbon Brief: COP30: Key outcomes for food, forests, land and nature at the UN climate talks in Belém
• Carbon Brief: COP30: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Belém

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 & 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