Bulelani Jili
Bulelani Jili is a Ph.D. student with Harvard University’s African and African American studies department. His research interests include Africa-China relations, Cybersecurity, ICT development, African Political Economy, Internet Policy, and Privacy Law. His recent paper, Chinese Social Credit initiatives and African Surveillance States, particularly discerns the development of surveillance technology in China and abroad. He has also written about the Chinese guiding cases system (Peking University Law Journal, 2019) with Guo Li, Professor of Law and Vice Dean at Peking University Law School.
As a researcher of Africa-China relations, his writing has appeared in leading African publications such the Mail & Guardian, Africa is a Country and The Elephant.
Prior to attending Harvard, Mr. Jili worked at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, in South Africa, as a Visiting Researcher. He earned an M.Phil. from Cambridge University, where he studied as a Standard Bank Africa Chairman’s Scholar. In 2016, he was awarded a Yenching Scholarship to study at the Yenching Academy of Peking University, where he received an M.A. in Economics. Working with Prof. He Yafei, former Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Prof. Jiang Guo Hua, he studied Chinese geopolitical and economic strategies. He holds a BA. (honors) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (College of Social Studies), from Wesleyan University (CT), where he was a Pfeiffer Scholar.
CLD Research Brief, 2020: Chinese Surveillance Tools in Africa
