Sudan's Rapid Support Forces Winning Public Relations Battle

 World Politics Review published on 2 November 2023 a commentary titled "Sudan's Army Is Losing the Public Relations War--and the Real One" by Elfadil Ibrahim.  

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) recently took control of Nyala, Sudan's second largest city, but is also winning the public relations battle against the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in spite of the RSF's engaging in genocide in Darfur as well as using civilians for human shields in Khartoum. 

Despite its evident military superiority over the SAF, it remains unlikely that the RSF will be able to take control of the entire country, let alone rule it.  No amount of effective public relations can hide the fact that the RSF poses a grave threat to Sudan's civilian population and the region's security. 

Both US and China Lose Influence in Africa

 Afrobarometer has just published changes in perceived influence of the United States and China in 27 African countries from 2019 until 2022.  

The US experienced an average decline of 11 percent in the 27 countries while China had an average decline of 10 percent.  (Click charts to enlarge.)

The US posted a positive influence percentage only in Sierra Leone and Mauritius while China had positive numbers in Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, and Namibia.  Both the United States and China experienced the sharpest drop in Morocco and Botswana.  

Corporate Chinese Public Relations Strategies in Kenya and Ethiopia

 The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published in February 2023 a paper titled "African Media Cultures and Chinese Public Relations Strategies in Kenya and Ethiopia" by Yuan Wang, Duke Kunshan University, and Hangwei Li, Chinese Agricultural University.  

The paper focuses on the corporate communication strategies of three Chinese SOEs involved in two Belt and Road projects in Africa: the Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya, constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation, and the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway in Ethiopia, constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and China Railway Engineering Corporation.  The authors explore the changes, or lack thereof, in the three Chinese SOEs' corporate communication strategies, specifically public relations strategies.  

China-Africa Relations and the US Response

 The Center for American Progress published on 5 October 2021 a commentary titled "5 Things U.S. Policymakers Must Understand about China-Africa Relations" by Jordan Link.

To get U.S.-Africa policy right, the author argues Washington needs to understand the following five realities about China-Africa relations:

--Africans view the United States and China favorably.

--Chinese economic activities across Africa are not solely extractive and they create jobs.

--The claims that China is engaged in debt trap diplomacy lacks evidence, but transparency is still a key concern.

--Chinese state financing is paving the way for Chinese companies to dominate telecommunications infrastructure development in many African countries.

--Chinese commercial activity has harmed the environment in many African countries.  

China's Ambassador to South Africa Recalled to Join Media Campaign?

The Daily Maverick published on 30 March 2020 a commentary titled "Ambassador Lin Songtian's Recall Signals Shifts Ahead in China-Africa Relationship" by Cobus van Staden, South African Institute of International Affairs.

China's recently recalled ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, is the former director general for Africa in the foreign ministry and one of China's most senior ambassadors. He was well known for his media outreach and use of Twitter in South Africa, especially his critique of US policy in Africa. His premature departure from Pretoria may signal a promotion whereby he joins China's effort to criticize US policy globally and highlight the positive aspects of China's policy.

US and China Combat Coronavirus in Africa

The US State Department posted a press release on 27 March 2020 titled "The United States Is Leading the Humanitarian and Health Assistance Response to COVID-19."

As China ramps up its public relations campaign to demonstrate how it is supporting countries to deal with coronavirus, the United States is trying to make clear that it is providing more aid to combat coronavirus than any other country (read China). The United States has provided assistance to the following countries in Africa: Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is providing additional health assistance to the Central African Republic, DRC, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan.

Unfortunately, China's smaller effort to aid countries in Africa has resulted in far more effective messaging than that from the United States.

US Misreads China in Africa

War on the Rocks published on 3 February 2020 a commentary titled "Africa: The First U.S. Casualty of the New Information Warfare against China" by Caleb Slayton, a U.S. foreign area officer who lived and worked in Africa for 12 years prior to serving as director for the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School, Africa course.

The author concludes that American officials argue China's efforts yield little good for Africa and ultimately intend to indebt the continent to China. The focus on China overlooks the needs and ambitions of African partners, the key stakeholders in the U.S.-Africa relationship. African countries are not choosing sides, but increasingly developing a preference for China. The U.S. narrative misrepresents China's strategy, underestimates its influence, and downplays what a majority of Africa's population really thinks about China partnerships and great-power competition.

China Seeks African Support on Hong Kong

China has been trying to shape international, including African, opinion about the protests in Hong Kong. Chinese envoys have encouraged opinion pieces for local news outlets, granted interviews, held media briefings, and made speeches in a flurry of public relations activity according to Kristin Huang in the South China Morning Post on 10 September 2019 in an article titled "Why China Went On a Global Media Blitz over the Hong Kong Protests--and Why It Probably Won't Work." The effort included visits to Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria in September by Yang Jiechi, President Xi Jinping's special representative, and a visit to South Africa in October by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accoring to a 19 October article in the South China Morning Post titled "South Africa Gets Behind China's Defence of Multilateral Trade" by Jevans Nyabiage.

So far, the governments of Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa have not commented publicly on the sitution in Hong Kong. On the other hand, Tanzania's Chief Government Spokesperson, Hassan Abbasi, stated in a 4 October interview that Hong Kong is an internal affair within China and Tanzania supports the one country, two systems approach of the government of China. He added that the internal steps taken with the Hong Kong government "are the best approach which other countries need to support." Uganda's ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement on 3 October stating that it "firmly supports the one country, two systems policy of the People's Republic of China on the matter of Hong Kong and other areas." The statement added that "Hong Kong is part of China. Hong Kong's affairs are China's domestic affairs."

It appears that, so far, Uganda and Tanzania are the only African countries that have issued public statements supporting China's handling of the situation in Hong Kong.

Huawei in Africa

Asia Times published on 16 October 2016 an article titled "Huawei's Quest for Hearts and Minds in Africa" by Claire van den Heever.

The article notes that Huawei mixes its multimillion dollar investments in training, equipment and facilities with a public relations onslaught.

Kenya's Open Data Initiative

Kenya has put in place a one-stop shop information portal known as the Open Data Initiative. It went into effect in July 2011. The impetus for this important initiative came from former permanent secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Information and Communications, Bitange Ndemo. The portal contains information from the government on demographics, the economy, health and education.

Click here to access the portal.

Rushda Majeed prepared an interesting case study published by Princeton University in September 2012 that highlights Bitange Ndemo's efforts to open Kenya's government to its citizens and the world.

Click here to access the case study.