A two-part conversation on the growing presence of China and Russia on the African continent. In part one, we'll talk to Samuel Woodhams about the narratives around China’s growing presence on the continent. And in part two, we'll talk to Shelby Grossman about how Russia has been interfering in African elections and politics through influence networks and social media. 

Shelby Grossman is a research scholar at the Stanford Internet Observatory. Her primary research interests are in comparative politics and Sub-Saharan Africa. She was also a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.

Samuel Woodhams is the Digital Rights Lead, at Top10VPN, an independent privacy group and VPN review website. He writes about the intersection of politics and technology. His work has been featured in Deutsche Welle, CNN, Just Security and African Arguments, amongst others.

Resources:
Freedom of Net Report: https://freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-net
China, Africa, and the Future of the Internet: https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/china-africa-and-the-future-of-the-internet/
The Great Firewall of China: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MB474LV/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1Censored: Distraction and Diversion Inside China's Great Firewall: https://www.amazon.com/Censored-Distraction-Diversion-Inside-Firewall-ebook/dp/B0785RHCXK/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Censored+by+Margaret&qid=1576729288&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
Australian Strategic Policy Institute: https://www.aspi.org.au/report/mapping-more-chinas-tech-giants
Evidence of Russia-Linked Influence Operations in Africa: https://fsi.stanford.edu/publication/evidence-russia-linked-influence-operations-africa
What Russia Really Wants from Africa: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/12/03/russia-wants-more-influence-africa-its-using-disinformation-get-there/