Month: May 2020
Related Posts
In a Dramatic Move, Kenya’s Solicitor General Wants to Terminate the SGR’s Contract With Its Chinese Operator
Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto is calling for the immediate termination of Kenya Railways's contract with the Chinese-owned Africa Star Railway Operation Company, two years ahead of the agreement's scheduled review date. Ogeto's move is apparently motivated by lower than expected revenue ...
Background: What Does Kenya Owe? And to Whom?
While there's widespread concern in Kenya about the country falling prey to a Chinese "debt trap," the reality is that Kenyans should be far more concerned about the consequences of failing to repay private creditors than the small Chinese portion of its national debt. ...
With No Debt Relief Deal in Place, Africa’s Economic Crisis Worsens by the Day
The cost of borrowing for many African governments is rapidly rising as the economic crisis on the continent worsens. While the double-digit yields on African bonds is great news for investors looking for new growth opportunities, it's an absolute tragedy for governments who are forced to divert even ...
Chinese Officials Are Rallying Behind the G20’s Debt Relief Efforts But Saying Little About All Those Bilateral Loans
China's Ambassador to Namibia, Zhang Yiming, Tweeted out a summary of Wang Yi's comments related to Africa that the foreign minister shared at a press conference in Beijing on Sunday. While Ambassador Zhang and Foreign Minister Wang appear ...
Chinese FM Wang Yi Pushes Back Against Critics in Africa and Offers More Public Support for the G20’s Debt Relief Agenda
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a press conference on Sunday with both domestic and international journalists during the ongoing 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's annual legislative session. Unsurprisingly, China's handling of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis at home and abroad, ...
The Chinese Government’s “10,000 African Villages” Project in Two Mozambican Villages: Kung Fu, Confusion and Flags
Several months ago, on a bus ride spanning the provinces of southern Mozambique, I passed a seemingly infinite number of advertisements painted on the walls of homes and stores when I suddenly passed one that I had not seen before – a hand-painted advertisement featuring Chinese and ...
Chinese-owned Farms Struggle to Help Improve Food Security in Zimbabwe
Strategic investments by the Chinese enterprises in Zimbabwe's agriculture sector face mounting challenges that are scuttling plans to assist the southern African country's erstwhile foothold as a net food producer. The Sino-Zim ventures were launched with the aim of assisting the southern African country's struggling food security ...
He’s Back! China’s Outspoken Former Ambassador to South Africa Reappears on State Media
After hurriedly leaving South Africa in early April to return to China, apparently because of the pandemic-related shutdown of commercial flights between the two countries, former ambassador Lin Songtian has kept a low profile over the past couple months. But ...
Heritage Foundation: China’s Construction of Government Buildings in Africa Potentially Enhances Beijing’s Spying Capabilities
The conservative Heritage Foundation in the United States published a new report on Wednesday arguing that China's intelligence capabilities are potentially enhanced by Beijing's drive to construct government buildings across the continent. "Chinese companies have constructed or renovated ...
How is China Going to Approach the Debt Crisis in Africa?
One of the big questions around the burgeoning debt crisis in Africa is how will China respond? With an estimated $152 billion of outstanding loans on the continent, Beijing is by far the continent's largest bilateral creditor. No discussion ...
Even if Africa’s Creditors Reach a Debt Relief Deal, Moody’s Says It Won’t Matter in the Long Run
The global credit rating agency Moody's Investors Services issued a grim warning this week that even if African governments are able to finalize a debt relief deal with their creditors, it won't help very much. "While debt-service relief will allow some ...
African Development Bank President: “It’s Not Fair”:
People like World Bank President David Malpass and AfDB head Dr. Akinwumi Adesina are surprisingly upbeat about the prospect of finding a solution to Africa's worsening debt crisis. Maybe they have to because it's their job, but the reality is that their ...