The Philippine coastguard called on its country’s fishing fleets to keep operating around the Scarborough Shoal (known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines and Huangyan Dao in China) despite the large Chinese presence in the disputed South China Sea area.
Coastguard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said while Philippine government vessels can’t maintain a constant presence, they are committed to protecting the country’s fishing rights in what it sees as its Exclusive Economic Zone.
Day: January 21, 2020
If You Aren’t Following The Chinese Consulate in Johannesburg’s Twitter Feed, You’re Missing Something Very Entertaining
The Chinese diplomatic corps in Africa is new to Twitter with most of their new accounts coming online within just the past few months. While the majority of those feeds are filled with the standard diplomatic posts that one expects from an official Twitter account, the Twitter ...
Zimbabwe Takes Delivery of Used B777 With Hopes to Launch New Direct Flights to China
A Boeing 777 from Kuala Lumpur landed at the Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare this week and brought with it the hope that Zimbabwe can revive its national flag carrier Air Zimbabwe. This is the first of two 777-200s that Zimbabwe purchased for $16.5 million apiece ...
Tanzania’s Drive to Become Regional Transport Hub Gets Boost From New SGR Deals With Burundi, DRC
Tanzania Transport Minister Isack Kamwelwe signed agreements with both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi to link up their future Standard Gauge Railway lines to Tanzania's proposed SGR. The 1,457km Tanzanian SGR line will connect inland East Africa from ...
Severe Drought Threatens Namibia’s Lucrative Beef Exports to China
With the country's dam levels now down below the critical 20% level, Namibia is running out of water, posing an immediate threat to both human health and the viability of the country's beef industry that has just begun exporting to the lucrative China market. ...
Nigeria is Right to be Worried About the Wuhan Coronavirus
Nigeria Center for Disease Control Director General Chikwe Ihekweazu is doing his best to reassure constituents that his team is closely following the spread of the deadly coronavirus in China and monitoring to see if it makes its way all the over to Nigeria.
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Philippine Fishing Fleets Urged to Maintain Presence at Disputed Shoal as Tensions Build
New Documents Unveiled in Kenya’s Court of Appeals Puroportedly Reveal Massive SGR Over-Spending
New documents have emerged that reportedly reveal widespread corruption and over-spending in the building of the Chinese-financed and constructed Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya. These documents are part of the ongoing case in front of Kenya's Court of Appeals in a suit against the government led activist Okiya ...
Tweet of the Day: It Shouldn’t Come as a Surprise if People Are Skeptical of the UK’s Newfound Interest in Africa
Charles Robertson is the Global Chief Economist at the investment banking firm Renaissance Capital. He is a regular commentator on emerging market issues to his 17,000+ followers on Twitter. You can ...
So the UK Now Wants to Compete With China in Africa. Here’s What They’ll Need to Do
15 African heads of state were in London yesterday for the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit that was hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince Harry. Like so many other "Africa Summits" in Russia, Japan, Turkey, and India among other places, China, although rarely mentioned, loomed large ...
AFRICOM: While the U.S. Wants to Partner with African Governments to Fight Terrorism, China Instead Just Sells Weapons
To say that the U.S. Military Command for Africa (AFRICOM) does not think highly of China's engagement on the continent would be putting it mildly. In an article published today in Military Times, AFRICOM commanders are outright dismissive of the Chinese ...