(Pragmatic) collaboration for progress or threat to autonomy? African news discourses about Chinese technology in Nigeria and Ghana

Abstract

This study explores how African news media frame China’s role in digital technology. China’s engagement in Africa is portrayed as an ambiguous trend by Western media, which point to risks of Chinese influence. Themes of exploitation and support for autocratic regimes are common in media narratives about Chinese-African collaborations. Yet claims that China pursues a neo-colonial project in Africa seem exaggerated. While Chinese geopolitical ambitions drive its foreign policy decisions, African actors often appear absent from these discussions. African perceptions and assessments of China are nuanced, indicating a complex relationship. They point to benefits and risks with China as an economic, political, and cultural partner. It is crucial to analyze local contexts where stakeholders “get to speak” about China and technology, offering interpretative frameworks and engaging with opposing perspectives. News media are vital sites where technology narratives are conceived and circulated. The present study analyses Nigerian and Ghanaian news media as examples. Both countries share a complex history of development collaboration with China. Using a news framing approach linked to sociotechnical imageries, the study focuses on how African media discourses give meaning to digital technology and assess it in relation to foreign partners, including geopolitical implications in the Global South.