Day: April 16, 2020
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The Optics of Leadership in the COVID-19 Era
As 2020 crawls to its end, it's becoming clear that, all things considered, China is emerged from the year's nested crises in better shape than many expected. While Europe and Japan seem headed to new slumps, and the American recovery also ...
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Traditional Chinese Medicine Training in Mali: “A Revolution of Sorts” but Skepticism Remains
In December 2019, when the Tianjin government launched its Luban Workshop in Mali, it stood out from the Luban Workshops (named after Lu Ban, the father of Chinese architecture) in other African countries which offer courses on ultra-modern device manufacturing, high-speed rail technologies and Chinese cuisine ...
Ghana’s Thinking Small (And That’s a Good Thing)
The Bui Power Authority (BPA) in Ghana recently launched a new solar farm that's connected to a Chinese-built hydroelectric dam. The idea here is that when water levels run low and power generation dips, the solar farm kicks in to make up the difference. ...
The Once Frenetic Debate Over Chinese Debt in Africa Has All But Disappeared
China's top diplomat for sub-Saharan Africa, Wu Peng, posted a tweet today that restated China's often-repeated position about its commitment to implement the G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative and to help "alleviate debt pressure on African countries." It's not ...
Ambassador Zhou Pingjian: China’s Tried Its Best to Meet Kenya’s Request on Loans
The Nation's Senior Diplomatic Writer, Aggrey Mutambo, sat down with China's ambassador to Kenya for a wide-ranging interview that covered access to Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines, next year's FOCAC summit in Dakar, and how Beijing will deal with Nairobi's difficulty in repaying its debts.
China, Debt and the Future of Kenya
The investigative series Africa Uncensored broadcast a riveting one-hour documentary on Kenyan national TV last night that explored the country's ballooning national debt. The program highlighted how, as Kenya's largest bilateral creditor owning an estimated 70% (or $6.2 billion) of its ...
African Diplomats in China Are Spending a Lot More Time These Days Talking About The Belt and Road Initiative
Ethiopia's ambassador to China, Teshome Tog Chanaka, shared his enthusiasm on Twitter Tuesday about his participation in the latest forum on how to integrate Africa into the Belt and Road. The event was organized by the Algerian embassy and the Taihe Institute, an international policy ...
Nigerians Share First Impressions of The New Chinese-Built Lagos to Ibadan Railway
Passengers have had a week to try out Nigeria's brand new Chinese-built standard gauge railway that links Lagos to Ibadan. The new service is operating on a limited schedule with just two trains a day but that'll expand to 16 daily departures shortly once construction of the ...
Billions of New FDI Flowing Into West Africa. Where’s the Chinese Money Going?
$1.46 billion of new foreign direct investment made its way to Nigeria in the third quarter of 2020, according to new data from the National Bureau of Statistics, but very little is coming from China. In fact, China (ex Hong Kong) wasn't among the list ...
With China on Their Minds, Zambia’s Bondholders Reject Appeal for Repayment Extension
Zambia on Saturday became the first African country this year to default on a portion of its debt after a coalition of bondholders refused the government's request for a 6-month repayment holiday. The government said it cannot pay the $42.5 million ...
Debt Crisis? What Debt Crisis? In China, There’s No Coverage or Commentary About Zambia
It appears that China's censors have moved to restrict media coverage of the ongoing debt crisis in Zambia. A search of major news sites, the market-leading Baidu search engine, and the social media platform Weibo came back with no results related to current events unfolding in the ...
Analysts Differ on What Happened in Zambia and China’s Role in the Burgeoning Debt Crisis
The refusal by a coalition of Zambia's bondholders to provide the government with a 6-month repayment holiday on $3 billion of Eurobond notes followed by the subsequent default on those debts, sparked a considerable reaction in Africa and internationally -- but none among Chinese stakeholders.
Letter to the Editor: The Zambian Debt Crisis as Seen by a “Concerned Citizen”
Hi Eric and Cobus, Being a Zambian living in Zambia, I've observed with interest your coverage of the looming credit default by Zambia on its debt repayments to bondholders. You've mostly looked at it in the context of the COVID-19 induced ...
What Happens if Zambia Defaults on Its Debt To China and Other Lenders?
BBC Africa journalist Jameisha Prescod produced a short, five-minute explainer on what Zambia can expect next, following its announcement that it would be unable to meet a Saturday repayment deadline on $3 billion of Eurobond notes owed to private investors. Prescod ...
Understanding the True Extent of Zambia’s Total Debt
There's been a lot of confusion in recent weeks about just how much Zambia owes its creditors. Most international news coverage focuses on the amount of external debt, believed to be around $12 billion, but that's less than half of what the country owes when other creditors ...
While Zambia’s Financial Crisis Unfolded on Friday, President Edgar Lungu and Ambassador Li Jie Visited a Blueberry Farm
In a somewhat odd bit of optics, two central players in Zambia's simmering economic crisis, President Edgar Lungu and Chinese ambassador Li Jie, were seen together on Friday inspecting a blueberry farm in Lusaka's Chongwe district. Neither seemed visibly concerned about ...
What Did We Learn From Zambia’s Eurobond Default?
As expected for months, Zambia now has the dubious distinction of being the first African country this year to default on a portion of its debt. While many have framed Zambia's failures as a consequence of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many analysts have pointed ...
Can China Help Build Africa’s Nascent Pharmaceutical Sector?
As COVID-19 continues its rampage across most of the planet, including in Africa, the vulnerabilities of Africa’s reliance on imported medical and pharmaceutical products are being exposed, and attention is increasingly focused on the need to strengthen local and regional manufacturing capabilities and supply chains.
Venezuela and the Chinese Debt Crisis in Africa
Even before the current economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic there were widespread concerns about Chinese lending practices in Africa. The U.S. and other critics contend that Beijing is employing a predatory lending strategy where it intentionally loads up ...
Nigeria’s President Buhari Responds to Debt Critics: “We Just Have to Take Loans to do Rail, Roads and Power”
President Muhammadu Buhari finally weighed on the debate currently raging in Nigeria over the government's decision to borrow billions of dollars, including from China, to build badly-needed infrastructure. “We have so many challenges with infrastructure. We just have to take loans ...
CCP “Training Class” With Congo’s Ruling Party Highlights Deepening Chinese Party-to-Party Engagement in Africa
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is steadily making inroads with Africa's ruling parties by convening seminars like the one held earlier this month with the Republic of Congo's incumbent Party of Labor. In this virtual session, or a "training class" according to the CCP, some ...
U.S. & Chinese State-Run Media Channels Go At Each Other in a Seemingly Fruitless Effort to Sway African Public Opinion
With relations between the United States and China rapidly deteriorating, each country's state-run propaganda outlets are ramping up cynical coverage of the other in an apparent attempt to sway international public opinion against their respective rivals. Two reports published this week, ...
StarTimes’ African Voice Actors Are the Newest Faces of Chinese Soft Power
The hugely popular Chinese-owned African pay-TV service StarTimes has always tried to put some distance between itself and the Chinese government, reminding anyone who asks that it is a private enterprise. Regardless of its status, the company is nonetheless a powerful ...
Subsidies and the False Promise of Fair Trade
Towards the end of our discussion last week with Walter Ruigu, managing director of the Beijing-based trading and logistics company CAMAL Group, on the China in Africa Podcast, he shared a fascinating insight that reveals why African commodity producers are condemned to remain at ...
The Long Journey to EurAfrica
Recently I've been trying to give my brain a break from marinading in China-Africa issues by reading the biologist Merlin Sheldrake's mind-bending new book Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. He points out that scientists in ...
It’s Time We Have an Honest Discussion About African Debt Relief
There's a huge disconnect between the debt relief discussion currently taking place on many webinars hosted by academics and analysts, and the reality of what's actually happening. We're now five months into this crisis and one thing is clear: bondholders, pension ...
New Chinese “Super Trawlers” Threaten to Devastate Liberia’s Fishing Grounds Warns Conservation Group
The presence of six newly-built Chinese "super trawlers" in Liberia is prompting widespread outrage and worry that these massive vessels will decimate local fish stocks, according to a new report by the London-based Environmental Justice Foundation. The Chinese ...
Investigate Report by a Nigerian News Site Prompts Federal Government to Investigate a Chinese Mining Company
Federal officials from the Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission paid a surprise visit this week to the Chinese-owned Hongao Mining Company's site in the Federal Capital Territory near Abuja to investigate reports that the company is polluting local water supplies.
LSE: Debt Relief and Africa During COVID-19
The Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa at the London School of Economics recently convened a discussion on the public policy implications surrounding COVID-19 and debt relief in Africa. Dr. Shirley Yu from LSE and the Harvard Kennedy School provided a robust articulation of the Chinese position on ...
What do Recipient Countries in Africa and Other Regions Think of China’s Foreign Aid?
China's foreign aid programs are still relatively new and poorly understood. Until the launch of China's new aid agency in 2018, aid initiatives, most of which went to Africa, were handled by the secretive Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Now, two years ...
Marina Rudyak on Chinese aid and South-South Cooperation
Marina Rudyak, a lecturer at the Institute of Chinese Studies at Heidelberg University in Germany and a well-regarded expert on China's foreign aid programs in Africa, was a recent guest on the "In Pursuit of Development Podcast" hosted by Dani Banik. ...
Judd Devermont: COVID-19 Provides African Governments With the Opportunity to Reset Geopolitical Ties
"African governments are fed up with the state of the world," declared Judd Devermont, director of the Africa program at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank CSIS, in his latest note on how COVID-19 is transforming the geopolitical calculus across the continent. ...
Acting Ambassador to South Africa Li Nan Summarizes the Key Obstacles in China’s Ties With Africa
China's Acting Ambassador to South Africa, Li Nan, spoke on Monday about the obstacles facing China-Africa relations and provided a list of challenges that he feels need to be overcome. This is not the kind of tone we would have heard from Acting Ambassador Li's predecessor, Lin ...
Transsion’s VC Fund Makes First Investment in an African Fintech Start-Up; the Chinese-owned Opera Mobile Browser Well Positioned to Capitalize on Financial Services
International interest in Africa's burgeoning fintech sector dropped considerably in the first half of the year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but now we're starting to see some of the first signs of interest from Chinese VCs and other investors.
Africa Likely to be Impacted by Massive Cuts to China’s Aid Budget
China's fledgling aid agency, CIDCA, will have nearly half its budget slashed this year due to the ongoing economic slowdown brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak. CIDCA is by no means alone -- the central government unveiled across-the-board cuts for the remainder the year, ...
UPDATE: Chinese Embassy in Kenya Denies Evacuation Flight Scheduled for Today, Confirms Ambassador’s Departure
The Chinese embassy in Nairobi is denying the recent report published in the Daily Nation newspaper that 400 Chinese nationals are scheduled to be evacuated from Kenya on Tuesday, June 16th. Those Chinese nationals, according to the Daily Nation story, obtained a clearance from the High ...
Debunking Fake China-Africa News
AFP Fact Check journalist Mayowa Tijani joins Eric & Cobus from Lagos to discuss his reporting that debunks fake news, particularly videos and other stories related to China-Africa. Misleading and downright false information have long been a hallmark of ...
China Needs to Do More to Protect Black People
On April 8, a 15-person Chinese medical team arrived in Nigeria to assist with the country’s fight against COVID-19. The team brought with them more than a million masks, ventilators, Personal Protective Equipment and other pandemic essentials. It was another example of Chinese support for African ...
China’s Ambassador to South Africa Really Seems Like He’s Trolling the United States Government
China's outspoken ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, tweeted an offer for assistance to the United States in their fight against COVID-19, a gesture many in Washington probably view as disingenuous. Ambassador Lin has emerged as one of the most ...
U.S. vs. China in the Battle of Perceptions
Providing global "public goods" in health, security and other areas has long been a responsibility taken on by the United States. Now, though, as the United States struggles to contain the COVID-19 outbreak at home and with its "America First" foreign policy doctrine, Washington is less inclined ...
From Ship to Rail to Air, Kenya’s Trade With China Slowing to a Halt
Chinese port activity increased in March in what many see as the first good news to come out of China's hobbled economy since the COVID-19 outbreak effectively shut down the economy last month. The container throughput at the eight of China's ...
Jack Ma to Donate Tens of Thousands of COVID-19 Test Kits and Face Masks to Countries Across Africa
Former Alibaba CEO Jack Ma and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali on Sunday discussed a large donation of COVID-19 test kits and masks that will be distributed to countries throughout Africa. According to a statement by ...
Evacuees From Wuhan Thrilled to Finally be Home But South Africans Divided Over Whether it Was Worth the Risk
At least 114 evacuees, some reports say as many as 122, returned home from Wuhan, China on Saturday when they landed at the Polokwane International Airport in the northern province of Limpopo. They were immediately transported to the Ranch Hotel and Resort where they will be ...
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Visit to Africa Is About China, Not Africa
U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo will make his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa on Saturday. On his first-ever trip to Africa after nearly two years in office, Mr. Pompeo will visit Senegal, Angola, and Ethiopia. Against the backdrop of the ...
Trump’s Travel Restrictions Benefits Only China
Overwhelmed by the coronavirus panic, US President Donald Trump’s impeachment folderol, and the chaotic Iowa Democratic caucuses, few took notice of the Trump administration’s announcement that it will expand its controversial 2017 travel restrictions to six more countries, including four in Africa. It is a politically expedient ...
10 Critical Issues That Will Shape China-Africa Relations in 2020
What was once a relatively straightforward geopolitical relationship fueled by a desire for resources and a need for investment is becoming much more multifaceted and vastly more complex. While China's appetite for African resources remains important, the reality is that much of what Africa has to sell ...
Report: Africa Emerges as a Key Battleground in China’s Global “Propaganda War”
The U.S. government-funded human rights and free speech organization Freedom House published a scathing report Wednesday about China's stepped-up efforts to influence media at home and abroad, particularly in developing regions like Africa. “Beijing has a large toolbox ...
While Skepticism of China’s Global Media Expansion Runs High in the U.S., in Kenya Opinions are More Varied
Kenya is the epicenter of China's media presence in Africa, with Nairobi hosting the regional headquarters of CGTN and an expanded presence by the state-run news service Xinhua. Also, Kenya is one of the largest markets for Chinese-owned private sector media and technology companies like the pay-TV ...
After a Brief Lull, the Belt and Road is Back… in a BIG Way
Last year there was a palpable sense that China's much-hyped One Belt, One Road Initiative had gone off the proverbial rails. The whole venture seemed poorly planned and not driven by a cohesive strategy, while concerns about corruption also ran high. ...
Tweet of the Day: Alibaba Becoming a Major Business Education Center for African Students
Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba is expanding its training and education programs for African undergraduate students with a new program specifically designed for commerce in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA.) ...
A Taliban security personnel operating an anti-aircraft gun keeps watch for Pakistani airstrikes near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province on February 27, 2026 following overnight cross-border fighting between the two countries. Photo by AIMAL ZAHIR / AFP
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared "open war" against Afghanistan on Friday amid a surge of fighting between the two South Asian neighbors. Pakistan said it's retaliating against Afghanistan for a series of attacks, including a suicide bombing in early February that killed at least 36 people ...
China Needs to Do More to Protect Black People
On April 8, a 15-person Chinese medical team arrived in Nigeria to assist with the country’s fight against COVID-19. The team brought with them more than a million masks, ventilators, Personal Protective Equipment and other pandemic essentials. It was another example of Chinese support for African ...