Dear Quartz Africa readers —
As promised in the Africa Weekly Brief on Sunday, we are very proud to unveil the our team’s first field guide for members, a comprehensive assessment of China’s expanding presence in Africa, and where things are headed.
As noted in the State of Play opening piece, China has many lessons for African nations in how it has lifted more than 850 million people out of poverty over the last 40 years partly by expanding infrastructure rapidly with a focus on roads, ports and factories.
And even though China has had a relationship with Africa that goes back some 2,000 years through to the Cold War era, it is in the last two decades its presence has grown significantly in every way: economically, geo-strategically, culturally and much more . There are now an estimated one million Chinese workers spread across the continent. In that 20-year period, China has grown to become the biggest and most influential foreign player on the continent, something that has become a bone of contention for the current US White House.
But the facts speak for themselves, as lead reporter Abdi Latif Dahir notes. China is now Africa’s largest trade partner, its leading infrastructure funder, and its fastest-growing source of foreign direct investment. But China is also the No.1 source of bilateral debt for some of the continent’s biggest economies and with that has come uncomfortable neocolonial narratives which are difficult to shake off on the true intentions of Chinese loans.
This is why Abdi dug into the myths and realities of Chinese debt in Africa. It’s certainly not all bad but it also isn’t quite the “win win” Chinese leaders and diplomats like to champion. He also looks into a very specific case study of how debt comes about and the potential difficulty of repayment by diving into Kenya’s flagship Nairobi to Mombasa SGR rail built by Chinese contractors with Chinese loans. As part of this package we’ve included three videos from Quartz’s acclaimed Because China series which were shot in Ethiopia, Zambia and Kenya.
There is also a very useful toolkit included so readers can follow up with some of the scholars, authors, media and data sources who are essential for anyone trying to really get their head around this expanding topic area. We’ll publish more on the topic during the week.
Sign up with our discount!
We would encourage you, if you’re not already a member, to take advantage of the 50%-off coupon code for our Africa Weekly Brief readers. Enter QUARTZAFRICA when you sign up.
The membership will give you unlimited access to all Quartz stories, field guides, presentations and video documentaries. You’ll also have access and invitations to exclusive member events and gatherings in different cities around the world.
Join us ON THURSDAY to discuss more
Join us for a discussion on Thursday at 11am EDT/4pm BST with myself and Abdi, where we’ll walk you through the state of China’s presence in Africa, and where it’s heading. We’ll be taking questions and comments live on the video conference call, accessible at the usual location. Email questions to africa@qz.com with the subject line: China in Africa.
If you’d like to dial in, use the following numbers: UK 0800-014 8469, USA 866-226 4650. For both numbers, the access code is 722 994 440.
OTHER MEMBER CALLS THIS WEEK
On Tuesday, at the usual 11am EDT/4pm BST time and the dial-in numbers above, you can join Quartz editor Kevin Delaney and reporter Annabelle Timsit for a discussion of the reporting behind our new documentary film about opioid makers’ marketing practices.
On Wednesday, at the same time and dial-in, Quartz reporter Mary Hui in Hong Kong will join a member call about where things are headed in protestors’ standoff with China.
(You can add our continuously updated member conference call schedule to your Google calendar by using this link.)
Best wishes for a productive week,
Yinka Adegoke
Quartz Africa editor
africa@qz.com