Born in South Africa, Dr. Phiwokuhle Mnyandu is currently the assistant director of the Center for African Studies at Howard University, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on Africa. Phiwo is an expert on China-Africa relations, with a focus on the intersection of academic diplomacy, soft power, and great power competition. His book, South Africa-China Relations: Between Aspiration and Reality in a New Global Order, was published in 2021, and he is currently working on a second book that explores the lives of African students in China.

Phiwo also researches the growth of African languages in China and the United States. He examines how African languages intersect with art and technology and how they are becoming engines of economic growth and spaces of strategic power competition. He authored 502 Zulu Verbs, the first ever conjugation manual for the Zulu language, and an innovative system for ordering Zulu numbers. Phiwo also consults industry and governments on culture and geostrategy, and enjoys taking his American students to South Africa to learn about the uniqueness of this part of the continent. He received his MA from Warwick University and PhD from Howard University.