Chinese Soft Power in Africa in the COVID-19 Era

2020 has been a tough year for China's soft power engagement in Africa. A furious backlash to anti-African discrimination in Guangzhou in April, growing public hostility to Chinese debt and, of course, questions about Chinese accountability for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have all presented formidable challenges to Beijing's reputation management on the continent. While, there's no doubt that China's popularity has taken a hit among large swathes of African civil society, that is not the case among the continent's governing elites where state-to-state remain as strong and stable as ever. Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Strategic Studies Center in Washington, D.C., closely follows Chinese soft power trends in Africa. Paul joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the Chinese soft power strategy in Africa and how, in many ways, it's fundamentally different than those of U.S. and European governments. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @pnantulya SUBSCRIBE TO THE CAP'S DAILY EMAIL NEWSLETTER FOR JUST $3 FOR 3 MONTHS. Your subscription supports independent journalism. Subscribers get the following: 1. A daily email newsletter of the top China-Africa news. 2. Access to the China-Africa Experts Network 3. Unlimited access to the CAP's exclusive analysis content on chinaafricaproject.com Try it out for just $3 for 3 months: www.chinaafricaproject.com/subscribe