China has replaced the US as the country that young Africans view most positively among the countries outside the continent, the survey involving in-depth face-to-face interview conducted by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation shows.

Roughly 76% of African youth had a positive view of China’s influence on their country and their lives, with 54% of all interviewed claiming that the Asian nation has “a lot of influence on their country”. At the same time, 72% of the young Africans reported having positive views of the US.

The previous survey, conducted in 2020, painted a different picture, with 83% of respondents having a positive view of the US and 79% of China. Despite Beijing’s popularity in the continent ebbing in 2022, it still was the most favourably viewed country outside of Africa (with South Africa being the leader with 80%). The chairman of the foundation, Ivor Ichikowitz, explains it was due to a combination of factors: notably, the US’ relatively limited engagement with the continent and China’s investments in it.

In terms of its popularity among the continent’s youth, the US slid behind the UK and the European Union, but stays ahead of other states among the top 15, including France with 66%, India with 68% and Russia with 63%.

The survey showed that young residents of Rwanda, Malawi and Nigeria were most likely to have a positive opinion regarding China and its influence on their countries. However, such positive view did not protect Beijing from negativity. Some 56% namely believed unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that China created and intentionally dispersed the coronavirus. At the same time, almost half of the young population (39%) was against taking COVID-19 vaccine.

Beijing repeatedly denied unsubstantiated allegation of experimenting on coronaviruses and even disputed the early theory that the disease originated in China. Chinese medics were the first to officially report the first cases of coronavirus infecting a human in December 2019.