Related Posts

Inspired by China’s Example, Nigeria’s Information Minister Wants to Regulate Social Media

Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, sparked widespread outrage on Tuesday when he called for the government to step in and begin to censor online content. "If we don’t regulate social media, it will destroy us," he told a House committee. "The ...

Nigeria’s Not the Only African Country Seeking to Impose Chinese-Style Restrictions on Internet Activity

The Chinese-inspired model of government control over digital communications and internet activity is becoming increasingly popular in a number of African countries. While no African country goes to the lengths that China does in regulating online behavior, states like Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Ethiopia are definitely employing ...

Zambia Reaches Debt Deferral Agreement With China Development Bank

Zambia's Secretary to the Treasury Fredson K. Yamba announced that his office has reached a debt restructuring agreement with the China Development Bank on one of its loans. It's important to note that the statement explicitly mentions a single loan and does not refer to CDB's broader loan portfolio ...

Taiwan’s Blossoming Business and Diplomatic Ties With Somaliland Proceed Unimpeded by China

The President of the self-declared state of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, met with Taiwan's envoy to Hargeisa this week for talks. Back in Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen took note of the meeting and retweeted a photo of the two officials bumping shoulders.

Just as the U.S. is Trying to Bolster Its Standing in Africa to Challenge China’s Rising Influence, Washington Stumbles in Ethiopia

U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion to the Sudanese and Israeli prime ministers in a call last weekend that Egypt might "blow up" the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam if Cairo and Addis Ababa can't reach a settlement, is not sitting well at all in Ethiopia. ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

BRICS Announces Numerous New Initiatives

The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...

Researcher: U.S. Efforts Against Russia and China in Algeria Not Showing a Lot of Progress

Oxford University Russia scholar Samuel Ramani is closely following Algeria's recent talks with the U.S., China and Russia and observed that Washington is making much headway in discouraging Algiers from distancing itself from its two rivals. Ramani regularly comments on Russia-China-Africa issues ...

If Europe Wants to Remain Relevant in Africa, It Has to Show Up

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, declared this week that 2021 is going to be “the Africa year for the European Union!”  Yes, this is the same Josep Borrell who back in March