China Tightens Grip on African Media, as US Influence Fades

Studies show Chinese Communist Party now controls news across Africa, while U.S. downscales media presence on the strategically important continent.
China Tightens Grip on African Media, as US Influence Fades
China's leader Xi Jinping attends a meeting with Tunisia's President Kais Saied (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 31, 2024. Tingshu Wang/ AFP via Getty Images
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JOHANNESBURG—The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has annexed media spaces across Africa, severely restricting citizens’ access to fair, balanced, and accurate news and allowing Beijing to spread anti-U.S. messaging at will, according to separate research completed by two of the world’s foremost authorities on China’s actions on the continent.

Reports from Paul Nantulya, at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, and Joshua Eisenman, senior fellow for China studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, paint a disturbing picture of the CCP’s success in spreading propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation across a continent that President Joe Biden characterized as “essential” to ensuring a better future for the entire planet.