China's Strategy to Shape Africa's Media Space

 The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 16 April 2024 an analysis titled "China's Strategy to Shape Africa's Media Space" by Paul Nantulya.

The author describes a global strategy by the Communist Party of China (CPC) to gain influence in developing countries by shaping their information environments.  This raises concerns about the effect that China's heavy media penetration is having on shaping public perceptions in ways that promote Chinese interests even when they undermine African citizen interests.  

Thousands of African journalists participate annually in media exchanges in China.  Money is the key; Chinese media entities support many African media houses struggling with poor equipment, low salaries, and tight budgets.  Nevertheless, the author concludes the effectiveness of Chinese messaging is mixed.  

China Emphasizes Education for African Military Personnel

 The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 30 October 2023 an analysis titled "China's 'Military Political Work' and Professional Military Education in Africa" by Paul Nantulya.  

The People's Liberation Army's (PLA) service branches were educating about 2,000 African military officers annually at military and political academies prior to COVID-19.  At least 50 African countries participate regularly in Chinese professional military education (PME).  

African Union officials have repeatedly warned that it is a bad idea to invite military intervention in politics and to socialize militaries to serve the party in power.  Yet, this is the theory behind Chinese PME.  African students enrolled in Chinese military academies are exposed to China's worldviews and ways of doing things, including PLA strategic culture, how the Communist Party operates, and how it interacts with and controls China's armed forces.  

China's Emerging Strategy in Africa

 The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) posted on 10 October 2023 an hour long podcast titled "Knitting the Pieces of China's Emerging Strategy in Africa."

The podcast pulls together the threads of China's current strategy in Africa and how it relates to great power competition.  It includes comments by Nadege Rolland and Rachel Bernstein, both with NBR, Yunnan Chen, Overseas Development Institute, Daria Impiombato, Australian Policy Institute, Mareike Ohlberg, German Marshall Fund, Mandira Bagwandeen, University of Cape Town, and Roukaya Kasenally, University of Mauritius.  

China's United Front Strategy in Africa

 The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 5 September 2023 an analysis titled "China's United Front Strategy in Africa" by Paul Nantulya.  

This analysis describes the efforts of China's United Front Work Department and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to mobilize individuals and institutions in Africa to advance the interests of the Communist Party of China and isolate its adversaries.  

Africa During Xi Jinping's Third Term

 The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 29 November 2022 an analysis titled "China's Deepening Ties to Africa in Xi Jinping's Third Term" by Paul Nantulya.  

The author suggests China's efforts to enlist African support can be expected to intensify during Xi's third term.  The new foreign policy team will be supervised by outgoing Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who knows Africa well and was promoted to the Politburo as the new director of the CPC Central Foreign Affairs Commission.  

Xi wants to instill Chinese values and governance norms as alternatives to the West and as part of a party-driven foreign policy.  There will be an emphasis on "discourse power," which means China will make maximum use of its propaganda and media infrastructure.  The CPC wants to remain Africa's most important destination for education and training and will ramp up this effort after it defeats COVID-19.

Studies on China's Pursuit of Influence in Africa

 The National Bureau of Asian Research published in June 2022 a major study titled "Political Front Lines: China's Pursuit of Influence in Africa" edited by Nadege Rolland.  

It contains the following chapters:

--Introduction by Nadege Rolland.

--United Front Work and Political Influence Operations in Sub-Saharan Africa by Mareike Ohlberg.

--Party-to-Party Relations and Political Training by Jean-Pierre Cabestan.

--China's Growing Police and  Enforcement Cooperation in Africa by Paul Nantulya.

--China in Africa's Media: A Case Study of Ghana by Emmanuel K. Dogbevi.

--Elite Relationships: Drivers of China's Influence in East Africa by Adam George.

Communist Party of China's Growing Influence in Developing World

Brookings published on 22 January 2019 an analysis titled "Protect the Party: China's Growing Influence in the Developing World" by David Shullman, International Republican Institute.

The author argues that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is making stronger efforts under Xi Jinping to popularize its authoritarian model and undermine developing democracies around the world. China's push for greater influence in the developing world, including Africa, is a product not only of geopolitical opportunism or aggressive policies under a more powerful Xi, but also of a more fundamental external manifestation of China's more hardline authoritarianism at home, deemed necessary for the party's continued survival. The CPC's approach to influence in the developing world is driven by deep-seated and intensifying concern about regime survival.