Day: August 5, 2020

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The China-Funded Mobile Browser That’s Zeroing in on the African Market

Four years ago, Opera was most famous for Opera Mini, a simple data compression browser, gaining traction in African countries with high data costs. Today, Opera’s software holdings have developed into an interconnected nexus spanning file sharing, news, digital payments, ride hailing, food delivery and news.

Finally, Some Straight Talk on Chinese Loans to Africa

Seemingly fed up with the past week of overheated controversy in Nigeria over Chinese loans, Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi is telling it like it is. People may not like the Chinese, they may not like the terms of Chinese loans and they may not like the debt they're ...

Nigeria’s Conversation About Chinese Debt

The first thing to say about the ongoing controversy about Chinese loans purportedly compromising Nigerian sovereignty is that it's based on a misreading of standard language found in loan contracts. Rather than stating that, in the case of a default, China will have the right to seize ...

The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Tepid Response to the Escalating Loan Controversy in Nigeria

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a statement in response to the escalating "sovereign immunity controversy" in Nigeria. The ministry did not specifically address "clause 8(1)" which stipulates that Nigeria will waive its sovereign immunity in the event of a default on ...

Hunting for Illegal Chinese Miners With Nigeria’s Amotekun Patrols

Operation Amotekun (Leopard) is a pioneering new joint task force that launched in January and now operates throughout six southwestern Nigerian states. These well-equipped forces are intended to support to local police and traditional rulers in combatting regular terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping in the country's ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

How to Lure Chinese Financing Back to the Global South: Report

Global South countries face increasing financing pressure, endangering their ability to keep developing while also implementing measures to deal with a growing climate crisis. The disruption of global trade is coupled with a larger megatrend: flows of international capital to the developing world have turned negative. This means that countries are now routinely paying more to service loans than they receive in disbursements.

The vast majority of Global South borrowers ...

China Shakes Up the Leadership of Its Sub-Saharan African Diplomacy

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made leadership changes in its African policy team. Dai Bing, who was the Director-General of the African Affairs Department (a role comparable to that of the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs) is now in New York where he's ...

Africa’s Endangered Rhinos Are Getting a Reprieve Thanks to COVID-19. It May Not Last Much Longer Though.

South Africa's endangered rhinos are among the world's only beneficiaries of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Poaching rates have plunged by 53% so far this year, according to new data from Barbara Creecy, the minister of environment, forestry, and fisheries. The minister explained that lockdowns and ...