China's Digital Silk Road

 The Council on Foreign Relations maintains an interactive map of countries known to be participating in China's Digital Silk Road, which includes a number of countries in Africa.  The map does not, however, include every country to which China provides some digital aid, financing or investment, as many of these arrangements remain opaque.  

The title of the posting is "Assessing China's Digital Silk Road Initiative: A Transformative Approach to Technology Financing or a Danger to Freedoms?"

Does Chinese Construction of Government Buildings in Africa Result in Intelligence Collection?

The Heritage Foundation published on 20 May 2020 a detailed report titled "Government Buildings in Africa are a Likely Vector for Chinese Spying" by Joshua Meservey.

The author notes that Chinese companies, all of which are legally obliged to help the Communist Party of China gather intelligence, have built at least 186 government buildings in Africa and at least 14 sensitive intra-governmental telecommunication networks.  He concludes that Beijing likely uses surveillance in these buildings and the IT networks to advantage Chinese companies competing for contracts and otherwise engage in spying as happened at the Chinese-built African Union headquarters.

In response to a question on 22 May about the report, China's foreign ministry press spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, said that "we noted the report.  It hypes up 'China bugging AU headquarters' and other ridiculous claims based on nothing but lies, illusions and ideological bias.  African leaders publicly refuted such rumors on multiple occasions."

The response recalls the comment of Queen Gertrude to her son in a scene from Hamlet: "The lady [press spokesperson] doth protest too much, methinks."

China's Huawei and Surveillance Technology in Africa

Deutsche Welle posted on 12 September 2019 a report titled "Huawei, Africa and the Global Reach of Surveillance Technology."

Huawei is just one of many private companies looking to sell potentially oppressive technology to authoritarian governments. Many of Huawei's biggest competitors and collaborators are based in the West. Recent accusations regarding Huawei's activity in both Zambia and Uganda demonstrate the murky and often opaque sale of surveillance technology. The UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression states that "this is an out of control industry with grave implications, worldwide, for privacy and freedom of expression."

China Exports Digital Surveillance to Africa

Quartz Africa posted on 1 November 2018 an article titled "China Is Exporting Its Digital Surveillance Methods to African Governments" by Abdi Latif Dahir.

Based on a global study dated October 2018 by Freedom House titled "Freedom on the Net 2018," the article suggests that China is helping African governments to censor the internet and control the flow of information.