{"podcast":{"title":"The China-Global South Podcast","slug":"the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371","podcast_index_feed_id":5670371,"rss_url":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/500733/rss","website_url":"https://sites.libsyn.com/500733","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/c/6/c/c/c6cc96236bd9098c88c4a68c3ddbc4f2/Untitled_design_6.png","author":"The China-Global South Project","episode_count":166,"summary":"A weekly discussion on Chinese engagement in the developing world from the news team of The China-Global South Project (CGSP). Join hosts Eric Olander in Vietnam and Cobus van Staden in South Africa for insightful interviews with scholars, analysts, and journalists from around the world. You'll also get regular updates from CGSP's editors in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-13T20:17:39.834437+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371"},"episode":{"title":"China and the Hidden Politics of Global Aid","slug":"china-and-the-hidden-politics-of-global-aid","published_at":"2026-04-21T05:13:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371/china-and-the-hidden-politics-of-global-aid","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371","url":"https://ea0f0fdd-2944-4ff3-8a00-704e8c67d58b.libsyn.com/china-and-the-hidden-politics-of-global-aid","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/ea0f0fdd-2944-4ff3-8a00-704e8c67d58b/CGSP_04212026_Libsyn.mp3?dest-id=4287628","summary":"The development finance industry would like us to believe that money for infrastructure, education, and other needs goes to where it's needed most. The reality, though, isn't that simple. Politics, it turns out, plays a much more important role than many would like to admit. Keyi Tang, an assistant professor at ESADE Business School in Spain, studied development finance data on 48 African countries over a 20-year period that revealed that money often flows to those who hold influence rather than to those who need it most. Keyi joins Eric to discuss the findings that she recently published in her new book, \"Power Over Progress: How Politics Shape Development Finance in Africa.\" 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode Political forces shaping development finance How China compares to Western lenders Why aid often favors politically strategic regions The role of domestic elections and power dynamics Structural inequalities in the global finance system The rise of borrower coordination efforts Impact of shrinking Western and Chinese funding How civil society can drive accountability Show Notes: Cambridge University Press: Power Over Progress: How Politics Shape Development Finance in Africa by Keyi Tang: https://a.co/d/04Oc87sf Join the Discussion: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander 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, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! ww…","meta_description":"The development finance industry would like us to believe that money for infrastructure, education, and other needs goes to where it's needed most. The re…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1859,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371/episodes/china-and-the-hidden-politics-of-global-aid/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371/china-and-the-hidden-politics-of-global-aid.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}