Day: March 25, 2021
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Why African Countries Can’t Rely on China to Fix The Trade Imbalance
It is beyond doubt that two-way trade will feature heavily in next week’s FOCAC ministerial meeting in Dakar, Senegal as China has already announced plans to further open its market for more African products. While this is a welcome move that will go a long way in ...
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Cobalt Clarifies Everything
We’re at one of those moments when everyone suddenly remembers that Africa exists. Right through the pandemic, the debt crisis, and climate talks, the continent and its needs were seemingly invisible. But nothing sharpens the eye like an upcoming FOCAC summit. ...
How Will China Respond to the Coup in Sudan?
The pre-dawn military coup in Sudan on Monday presents the latest challenge for China on how to respond to the toppling of governments in Africa where it has sizable economic and strategic interests. Normally, the Chinese Foreign Ministry tends to be ...
COVID Flare-Ups in China Threaten to Disrupt What’s Otherwise Been a Strong Year For China-Africa Trade
While global trade experiences unprecedented disruptions of major supply chain networks, that turbulence does not appear to have had much effect on the volume of Chinese trade with African countries, at least so far. Chinese ...
One Kenyan Entrepreneur’s Cautionary Tale About Replacing Chinese Imports With a Locally-made Alternative
Kenya's gaping trade imbalance with China is typical of many African countries that import significantly more than they export to the Chinese market. This has prompted calls going back years for Africans to reduce their dependency on Chinese imports and manufacture more at home, particularly in the ...
Indonesia’s plans to develop its rare earth resources face a geopolitical dilemma because the fastest way to process them relies on China’s dominant technology and supply chains, even as the United States and its allies are urging Jakarta to reduce dependence on Beijing. Photo by AFRIADI HIKMAL / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP
Indonesia sits on a geological treasure trove of rare earth minerals, and the government is eager to tap into the wealth they could bring. While it knows how to find, mine, and sell the highly sought-after critical materials, it confronts a geopolitical dilemma: The only ...
Human Rights, Non-Interference and Trade at the Top of Wang Yi’s Agenda in Saudi Arabia
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi kicked off a week-long six-nation tour of the Persian Gulf and Turkey on Wednesday with a stop in Riyadh, where he met with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan. Relations between the two countries have ...
China Extends Pandemic Relief to Another Multilateral Organization
China donated a batch of medical supplies (not vaccines though) to the United Nations Economic Commission in Africa in what now appears to be part of a larger effort to provide critical pandemic relief to United Nations organizations and other multilateral institutions. ...
Why Is China is Sending Vaccines to Certain Countries and Not Others?
The list of countries receiving Chinese vaccines around the world is large and growing but it's still not clear what criteria China uses to distribute vaccines to some countries over others. Two Czech researchers at the Association for International Affairs in Prague ...
In 5 Years, the Battle Over Cobalt is Going to Intensify… a LOT!
There are just five years left before the demand for cobalt, a critical metal used to make the batteries in electric vehicles, is going to outstrip the known supply of this strategically vital resource. And with 60-70% of the world's cobalt reserves located in ...
Example of How Chinese Propaganda Makes Its Way Into Africa’s News Feeds
Chinese propaganda dissemination in Africa extends far beyond the traditional radio, TV, and newspapers that most people focus on. In fact, there's evidence that indicates those platforms are actually not that effective at reaching large audiences, especially in Africa's intensely competitive media market.
Someone is Notably Absent From This Year’s Alibaba-Backed Africa’s Business Heroes Awards
Organizers of the annual Africa's Business Heroes prize sent out an announcement on Wednesday that the online portal to apply for the competition will open on Monday. In the past, just last year in fact, this same announcement had Jack Ma all over it. But not this ...