Annually, China’s minister of international affairs embarks on what has now develop into a normal odyssey throughout Africa. The custom started within the overdue Eighties and sees Beijing’s most sensible diplomat seek advice from a number of African international locations to reaffirm ties. The newest seek advice from, by way of Overseas Minister Wang Yi, happened in mid-January 2025 and integrated stops in Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Chad and Nigeria.
For over twenty years, China’s burgeoning affect in Africa was once symbolized by way of grand presentations of infrastructural may. From Nairobi’s gleaming towers to expansive ports dotting the continent’s shorelines, China’s investments at the continent have surged, attaining over US$700 billion by way of 2023 underneath the Belt and Highway Initiative, China’s huge world infrastructure building technique.
However in recent times, Beijing has sought to make bigger past roads and skyscrapers and has made a play for the hearts and minds of African other people. With a deft mixture of persuasion, energy and cash, Beijing has became to African media as a possible conduit for its geopolitical ambitions.
Partnering with native retailers and journalist-training tasks, China has expanded China’s media footprint in Africa. Its function? To switch perceptions and anchor the theory of Beijing as a supplier of sources and help, and a style for building and governance.
The ploy seems to be paying dividends, with proof of sections of the media giving favorable protection to China. However as anyone researching the achieve of China’s affect in another country, I’m starting to see a nascent backlash towards pro-Beijing reporting in international locations around the continent.
The media allure offensive
China’s way to Africa rests basically on its use of “soft power,” manifested via such things as the media and cultural techniques. Beijing gifts this as “win-win cooperation” – a quintessential Chinese language diplomatic word blending collaboration with cultural international relations.
Against this, Western media presence in Africa stays relatively restricted. The BBC, lengthy embedded because of the UK’s colonial legacy, nonetheless maintains a big footprint amongst international retailers, however its affect is in large part ancient slightly than increasing. And as Western media affect in Africa has plateaued, China’s state-backed media has grown exponentially. This growth is particularly obtrusive within the virtual area. On Fb, as an example, CGTN Africa instructions a staggering 4.5 million fans, massively outpacing CNN Africa, which has 1.2 million — a stark indicator of China’s rising cushy energy achieve.
China’s zero-tariff business coverage with 33 African international locations showcases the way it makes use of financial insurance policies to mildew perceptions. And state-backed media retailers like CGTN Africa and Xinhua are central to highlighting such tasks and pushing a picture of China as a benevolent spouse.
Tales of an “all-weather” or steadfast China-Africa partnership are broadcast extensively, and the protection incessantly depicts the grand nature of Chinese language infrastructure tasks. Amid this sparkling protection, the exertions disputes, environmental devastation or debt traps related to some Chinese language-built infrastructure are much less more likely to make headlines.
Questions of media veracity however, China’s technique is bearing fruit. A Gallup ballot from April 2024 confirmed China’s approval rankings mountaineering in Africa as U.S. rankings dipped. Afrobarometer, a pan-African analysis group, additional studies that public opinion of China in lots of African international locations is undoubtedly sparkling, an obvious validation of China’s discourse engineering.
Additional, research have proven that pro-Beijing media influences perceptions. A 2023 survey of Zimbabweans discovered that those that have been uncovered to Chinese language media have been much more likely to have a favorable view of Beijing’s financial actions within the nation.
China’s international minister Wang Yi, heart, holds arms together with his opposite numbers, Senegal’s Yassine Fall, left, and the Republic of the Congo’s Jean-Claude Gakosso, after a joint information convention.
AP Photograph/Andy Wong
Co-opting native voices
The effectiveness of China’s media technique turns into particularly obvious within the integration of native media. Thru content-sharing agreements, African retailers have disseminated Beijing’s editorial line and tales from Chinese language state media, steadily with out the due diligence of journalistic skepticism.
In the meantime, StarTimes, a Chinese language media corporate, delivers a gradual circulate of curated depictions of translated Chinese language films, TV presentations and documentaries throughout 30 international locations in Africa.
However China isn’t simply pushing its perspective via African channels. It’s additionally taking a lead function in working towards African newshounds, 1000’s of whom were lured by way of all-expenses-paid journeys to China underneath the guise of “professional development.” On such junkets, they obtain working towards that critics say obscures the glory between skill-building and propaganda, presenting them with views conforming to Beijing’s line.
‘Win-win’ guarantees
In Angola, Chinese language oil corporations extract really extensive sources and channel billions into infrastructure tasks. The native media, once more often staffed by way of newshounds who’ve permitted invites to seek advice from China, steadily painting Sino-Angolan family members in sparkling phrases. Allegations of corruption, the displacement of native communities and environmental degradation are relegated to facet notes within the identify of not unusual building.
The battle for Africa’s media soul
Regardless of all the Chinese language affect, media views in Africa are a ways from uniformly pro-Beijing.
In Kenya, voices of dissent are starting to upward push, and media execs proof against Beijing’s attract are probing the actual prices of Chinese language monetary undertakings. In South Africa, media watchdogs are sounding alarms, pointing to a gentle attrition of press freedoms that come packaged with guarantees of expansion and prosperity. In Ghana, anxiousness about Chinese language media affect permeates greater than the journalism sector, as officers have raised considerations concerning the implications of Chinese language media cooperation agreements. Wariness in Ghana was particularly obvious when native newshounds began reporting that Chinese language-produced content material was once being prioritized over home tales in state media.
Underneath the skin of China’s well-publicized tasks and media choices, and the African international locations or organizations that include Beijing’s line, an important countervailing drive exists that demanding situations uncritical representations and pursues rigorous journalism.
But as CGTN Africa and Xinhua develop into entrenched in African media ecosystems, a pertinent query involves the vanguard: Will Africa’s newshounds and press have the ability to uphold their impartiality and retain highbrow independence?
As China continues to make strategic inroads in Africa, it’s an excellent query.
