Latin American and African experts gather in Washington, DC, for a multination deep dive on how countries can best respond to China’s growing global presence, in a conference hosted by The University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.

Many countries in Africa and Latin America hold shared ambitions, from mitigating poverty and inequality to countering transnational crime, fighting corruption, and responsibly managing resource wealth. Both regions have also been recipients of a recent flood of Chinese investment. This economic engagement has addressed real development needs, but it has also presented challenges.

To explore what African and Latin American countries can learn from one another on navigating China’s growing global presence, the China-Global South Initiative (a collaboration between the University of Notre Dame Keough School of Global Affairs and the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub) is gathering experts from across Africa and Latin America, as well as from the private sector and US and allied governments, in Washington, DC. These experts will kickstart innovative and collaborative policy solutions that help these countries exercise their sovereignty, protect their environments, strengthen their institutions, resist coercion, and ultimately ensure engagement with China serves their own interests.

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Speakers

Agenda

October 6

9:30–9:40 a.m. | Welcome remarks

Speakers

Joshua Eisenman
Professor of Politics, Keough School of Global Affairs,
University of Notre Dame

Melanie Hart
Senior Director, Global China Hub,
Atlantic Council

9:40–10:40 a.m. | Opening plenary panel

Speakers

Parsifal D’Sola
Founder and CEO,
Andrés Bello Foundation;
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global China Hub,

Atlantic Council

Leland Lazarus
Founder and CEO,
Lazarus Consulting, LLC;
Nonresident Fellow, Global China Hub,
Atlantic Council

Sanusha Naidu
Senior Research Fellow,
Institute for Global Dialogue

Rama Yade
Senior Director, Africa Center,
Atlantic Council

Moderated by

Joshua Eisenman
Professor of Politics, Keough School of Global Affairs,
University of Notre Dame

11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m. | China’s impact on governance and rights in Latin America

Featuring

Luis Almagro
Director, Observatory for Democracy,
CASLA Institute

Moderated by

Victoria Chonn-Ching
Nonresident Fellow, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center,
Atlantic Council

12:15–1:00 p.m. | Lunch

Free time for networking; catered meals available.

1:00–2:15 p.m. | China’s impact on natural resources and the environment in Africa

Speakers

Richard Asante
Associate Professor, Institute of African Studies,
University of Ghana

Asma Amina Belem
Visiting Scholar, Department of African Studies
Howard University

Ebagnerin Jérôme Tondoh
Associate Professor of Agroecology,
Nangui Abrogoua University

Moderated by

Ellis Adjei Adams
Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Policy, Keough School of Global Affairs,
University of Notre Dame

2:30–3:45 p.m. | The future of US competitiveness

Featuring

Adam Frost
Former Senior Vice President, China and Transformational Exports Program,
Export-Import Bank of the United States

Meredith Potter
Executive Director,
American Security Fund

Michael Schiffer
Former Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia,
United States Agency for International Development

Moderated by

Melanie Hart
Senior Director, Global China Hub,
Atlantic Council

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In partnership with

Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs is a vibrant community dedicated to serving human dignity through research, teaching, and policy engagement. With a strong presence in Washington, DC, the Keough School connects scholarship to practice, shaping policies that foster integral human development around the world. Learn more at Keough@nd.edu.

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The Global China Hub tracks Beijing’s actions and their global impacts, assessing China’s rise from multiple angles and identifying emerging China policy challenges. The Hub leverages its network of China experts around the world to generate actionable recommendations for policymakers in Washington and beyond.

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