-Nothando Khumalo “How did you learn to speak English?”; “Oh you’re from Johannesburg – do you know my friend Peter in Nairobi?”; “Do you speak African?”; “Is this your first time being a city?”“. These are a few of the … Continue reading Eradicating Misconceptions about Africa
How well do you know your Sino-Africa Continue reading Know your Africa-China facts?
– Nothando Khumalo TERRACOTTA ARMY By Dawei Huang The historical site of the Terracotta Army is one of the greatest cultural treasures of Xi’an, and more importantly, of Chinese history. The Terracotta Warriors’ army was unearthed in 1974, Xi’an, when a farmer named Yang Zhifa dug into his farmland to create wells. These pieces of clay statues, buried deep in the ground, revealed one of the greatest archeological discoveries ever to be found. Terracotta Army (source: Naoya Matsumoto) This astounding archeological discovery included “clay statues reaching up to 2.0 meters tall, weighing in at roughly 270kg each, and in the form … Continue reading Xi’an Visit Pt. 3: Terracotta Army and City Wall
-Sihle Isipho Nontshokweni Inaugural China Young Leaders Program From the 11th-18th of October 2015, 52 South African youth via the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) visited China to participate in the inaugural China Young Leaders Program. The Program’s mission is … Continue reading What S.A’s youth wants from S.A-China relations
– Thuthukile Mbanjwa A Conversation with Zukiswa Mqolomba. Videography by Sharon Tshipa This is a 2.46 minute video, where Thuthukile interviews Zukiswa Mqolomba asking the following questions: 1. Zukiswa, can you tell us more about yourself? 2.Having spent 4 days in China for the Yenching Global Symposium, what are your initial impressions of China? 3.What do you think is the role of young people in the building of South-South cooperation? 4. You have worked for the World Bank, you are currently working for government, you are pursuing your PhD, how would you advise someone who wants to follow in your foot steps? … Continue reading African Excellence Series: YGS
– Sihle Isipho Nontshokweni A Conversation with Curwyn Mapaling. Videography by Sharon Tshipa This is a 2.55 minute video, where Sihle asks Curwyn the following questions: 1. Can you tell us more about yourself? 2. How does the work that you do link with your application to the Yenching Global Symposium and China in general? 3. What are your thoughts on the Africa-China relationship? 4. What can China learn from the continent of Africa and vice versa? Continue reading African Excellence Series: YGS
– Wadeisor Rukato
Suppressing a giggle, Sharon begins her self-introduction; “I always laugh when I’m interviewed! This is actually awkward, because when you are behind the scenes all the time, every time you are asked to be the subject it’s like…” at this point Sharon stops speaking and continues to laugh lightly. Her energy is bright and natural. She mentions that she is often ‘accused’ of being a laugher, something that is more than clear as we prepare to begin our conversation. Continue reading “African Excellence Series: YGS”
-Nothando Khumalo
On the final day of the Yenching Global Symposium (YGS) I had the pleasure of interviewing Simbarashe Moyo. The ever vibrant Simbarashe hails from Zimbabwe. He is currently a Teaching Assistant at the University of Zimbabwe where he also holds the role of Vice Chancellor’s Ambassador. His main professional goal is to become the United Nations Secretary General. Simba co-founded AGRINEXUS, a social enterprise that is aimed at promoting food security in Zimbabwe. Inspired by the “clean state of Beijing” on his first visit to China in 2014, Simba founded the ‘Let’s Green the Future’ (LGF) project which seeks to achieve environmental sustainability through empowering children to become environmentally responsible.
Simba is one of five African YGS delegates that were selected from a pool of 1800 applicants from across the world. This is the first of a five-part interview series that will capture the perspectives and insights of the five African YGS delegates. Continue reading “African Excellence Series: YGS”
-Sihle Isipho Nontshokweni
This post will be the first in a series dedicated to recognizing young, talented Africans living in China. We aim to celebrate the triumphs of these individuals who are actively contributing to the promotion and strengthening of socio-cultural links between Africa and China.
Recently I sat down for an interview on the grounds of Peking University, Beijing with Abba Garba, a fellow African student at the University reading towards his PhD in Computer Software and Theory. The ever humble Abba hails from Gumel in Jigawa State, Nigeria, where he grew up in a large family with many siblings who served as great role models to him. More recently, Abba held the flag of his university, his country and continent high as he emerged as one of the winners of the Shanghai Hackathon 2016 where he bagged a neat $10,000!
Continue reading “African Excellence Series: Abba scoops $10,000”
– Wadeisor Rukato
Part 3: A typology of Chinese migrants to Africa.
The previous post in this series presented a brief history of Chinese migration to African countries. Reactions to part two of the series reflect how the discourse on Chinese migration to Africa has tended to focus on recent migration from China to Africa that is fueled by Sino-African economic relations. This has been to the neglect of the complex pre-twentieth century history of Chinese migration to Africa. A reader affirmed this point by remarking that he had “no idea how complex the migratory history between China and Africa actually was”. Most people don’t.
Continue reading “Observations on China in Africa: A Three Part Series.”
From Africa to China 