Awkward China-Africa Conversations in Washington, D.C.

Awkward China-Africa Conversations in Washington, D.C.

April 9, 2026 · 57 min · Season 16 · Episode 15

About this episode

The episode discusses the U.S. response to China's lead in critical sectors and the shifting focus of African countries towards other partners.

The U.S. lags far behind China in the race for critical minerals, electric mobility, power generation, and new energy technologies, among others, but, in the view of many in Washington, D.C., there's still time to catch up. Eric spent a week in the U.S. Capitol talking with key stakeholders in government, academia, and think tanks, to hear firsthand why there's widespread concern about China's lead in these areas, but no sense of panic. Cobus and Géraud join Eric to discuss whether it may actually be too late for the United States to catch up to China in certain sectors and why African countries, in particular, are focusing less attention on ties with Washington as they look to other partners for their economic and development needs. Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social Follow CGSP in French and Spanish: French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine Spanish: www.chinalasamericas.com | @ChinaAmericas Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff…

People in this episode

Host: Eric

Guests: Cobus, Géraud

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U.S. Capitol, China-Global South Project

Places: Washington, D.C., United States, Africa, China

More episodes of The China in Africa Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The China in Africa Podcast podcast page.