Chinese Bid to Shape News Narrative in Africa Flops

Welcome to Next Africa, a daily newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. In today’s edition we look at why Chinese attempts to establish a media foothold in Africa have fallen flat.

Davis Moroko works at a print shop in the leafy suburb of Gigiri in Nairobi. He follows the news. He watches the BBC. He scrolls YouTube.

But ask him about CGTN — China’s overseas state broadcaster — and he looks puzzled. “I never watch Chinese media at all,” he says. “I didn’t even know they had a studio here.”