Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Chinese Presence in African Technology Sector

The Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies posted a 23 minute podcast on 9 July 2019 titled "Tom Bayes on Chinese Presence in the African Tech Sector" with Tom Bayes, a China-Africa researcher.

This wide-ranging interview discusses some of China's latest interaction with Africa in the technology sector. Bayes said Chinese private and state-owned enterprises are interested in Africa because it is a large market and a place to make money. This engagement adds a mostly positive dimension to China's engagement in Africa. He discusses Huawei's lead in 5G technology and the huge market share captured by Transsion, a Chinese company that has focused on inexpensive mobile phones for Africans. He also comments on the 5-year practice by Chinese technical staff at the Chinese-built African Union headquarters to transfer secretly each evening all messages back to a facility in Shanghai. The African Union subsequently took steps to end the spying.