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)

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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.

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

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The collapse of the post-war international system now underway will have a disproportionate impact on African countries that rely heavily on multilateral bodies like the UN. Beyond a pull-back of aid and humanitarian assistance, African countries must also contend with an increasingly hostile United States.

Dozens of African countries have been targeted by the Trump administration for visa restrictions, trade sanctions, and regularly denigrated by the president himself. At the same time, U.S. diplomats across the continent were ordered by the State Department in January to remind African governments to express more gratitude to the U.S. for its "generosity."

Judd Devermont, the former top Africa strategist at the White House during the Biden administration and now an operating partner at Kupanda Capital in Washington, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the future of U.S.-Africa relations and China's expanding presence on the continent.

📌 Topics covered in this episode:

• China's sharp drop in Africa lending and what it signals
• Why big Chinese infrastructure projects are fading
• U.S. Africa relations after USAID and PEPFAR cuts
• The leaked State Department email and Africa as a "peripheral" priority
• America's collapsing credibility in Africa and beyond
• Why China is seen as an opportunity, not an ally
• Critical minerals and the limits of extractive diplomacy
• What the shifting U.S.-China-Africa balance means next

Show Notes:

• Post Strategy: On China by Judd Devermont
• The Guardian: Head of US Africa bureau urges staff to highlight US 'generosity' despite aid cuts by Aisha Down
• China Power Project: US-China-Africa Relations: A View from Africa by Lina Benabdallah

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X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque

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YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

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• French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
• Spanish: www.chinalasamericas.com | @ChinaAmericas

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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week will likely be remembered as one of the most significant orations of the early 21st century. Carney channeled the fear and frustration of many global leaders when he defiantly declared that the U.S.-led international order is over.

The "rupture" that Carney referenced in his address has profound consequences for China as it moves to reshape a part of this new international order to better align with its interests.

Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior research scholar at Columbia University, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why this is such a pivotal time for China as it moves to become a peer power of the United States, at least economically, without triggering the so-called "Thuycides Trap" that dictates this kind of rivalry often leads to war.

Show Notes:

• Foreign Affairs: China's Long Economic War — How Beijing Builds Leverage for Indefinite Competition by Zongyuan Zoe Liu

📌 Topics covered in this episode:

• Mark Carney's Davos speech and the declaration of a global rupture
• The collapse of the rules-based international order
• What a post-American world looks like for middle powers
• Economic coercion and the weaponization of supply chains
• Where China fits in the new global order
• China's long economic war and leverage strategy
• The Global South's trust gap with China
• Why the debt trap narrative persists despite evidence
• China as an opportunity rather than ally in emerging markets
• The rapid erosion of U.S. global credibility

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X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque

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YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

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While global attention was fixed on the fallout from U.S. intervention in Venezuela and rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi quietly toured three African countries in a notably low-profile visit.

Eric, Cobus, and Géraud unpack why this understated trip mattered despite attracting little media attention, and examine its timing alongside a controversial BRICS naval exercise held off the coast of South Africa.

📌 Topics covered in this episode:

• Why Africa remains China's first diplomatic stop of the year
• Wang Yi's low-key tour: Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Lesotho
• Somalia–Somaliland tensions and China's security calculus
• Ethiopia diplomacy, development messaging, and AU signaling
• Tanzania's political reassurance and legacy infrastructure ties
• Lesotho market access, tariffs, and geopolitical symbolism
• BRICS naval drills off South Africa and U.S. backlash (AGOA/G20)
• China's zero-tariff push vs. Africa's limited export gains
• Bandung 1955: why Asia–Africa solidarity faded, and what could revive it
• Indonesia parallels: Chinese-built infrastructure and nickel-sector controversies
• Public opinion shifts: pragmatic views on China and declining U.S. appeal

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

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YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

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• Spanish: www.chinalasamericas.com | @ChinaAmericas

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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

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

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

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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