Day: December 6, 2021
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Tshisekedi Sacks Head of DRC’s State Mining Company Just Weeks After Release of Blockbuster Corruption Investigation
DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi fired the powerful head of the country's state-run mining company Gécamines on Friday in an apparent effort to gain control of the narrative following last week's release of a damning international investigation that revealed widespread corruption at the firm.
Related Posts
China’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Reaffirms Support For Addis, Keeps Up the Pressure on the U.S.
China's ambassador to Ethiopia, Zhou Zhiyuan (photo), convened a press conference on Friday to further bolster the support conveyed by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his surprise visit to Addis Ababa earlier in the week. Zhou reiterated Beijing's support for Prime ...
With an IMF Deal in the Bag, the Big Question is How Will Hichilema Handle Zambia’s Chinese Debts?
Zambian President Haikainde Hichilema (photo) got the news he was hoping for on Friday when the International Monetary Fund announced that it had granted preliminary approval for a $1.4 billion, three-year credit facility to the economically beleaguered country. President Hichilema's government ...
The Uganda Airport Controversy is Prompting Renewed Discussion in East Africa About Chinese Debt
The last two weeks' uproar over (unfounded) allegations that Uganda will forfeit the Entebbe International Airport is finally winding down. It's making way for a more nuanced, thoughtful discussion on the implications of Chinese loans to East African countries. Economist and ...
BBC Apologizes to Professor Deborah Brautigam For Misrepresenting Her Views on “Debt Trap Diplomacy”
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) apologized to Professor Deborah Brautigam, director of the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, for editing an interview she did with the network last week in such a way that it sounded like she was a proponent of ...
Bad China Takes: Debt, Scrambles, and Bases
The Wall Street Journal is the latest U.S. news outlet to publish unconfirmed Pentagon claims that China seeks to build a second military outpost in Africa, this time on the Atlantic coast. Monday's article was almost identical to an AP story published ...
The French Media’s View of FOCAC Was Decidedly Negative
Generally, the French view of last week's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation conference that took place in Senegal was not very positive. With headlines that spoke of Africa's "disillusionment" with China or overtly racist cartoons depicting China's vaccine donations on the continent, pessimism ...
FOCAC 2018 vs. 2021
Researchers and analysts are beginning to work their way through the 40-page Dakar Action Plan that provides more detail on the outcomes of last week's FOCAC. If past FOCAC events are any guide, it's likely that it will take at least two to three weeks to fully ...
Chinese Diplomats Push Back on Claim Beijing is Cutting Back on Financial Support For Africa
China's ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian, challenged assertions that Beijing is reducing its financial support for Africa. "I can assure you, the financial support from China to Africa will only increase. It will never reduce,” he told journalists at a press conference in Nairobi on Friday.
Things to Know About Africa-China Relations
Two very different rundowns of Africa’s relationship with China emerged over the past week. On the one side of the Pacific, the analyst Jordan Link published a paper framed as a list of five things U.S. policymakers should know about the relationship. On the other, Li Anshan, the ...
Folashadé Soulé on the Key Priorities For West African Countries at This Year’s China-Africa Summit
For much of the past twenty years, since the first FOCAC summit in 2000, China's engagement strategy on the continent has focused predominantly on anglophone countries in southern and eastern Africa like Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa. Angola, of course, was an important exception. ...
Li Anshan’s “Five Basic Facts About China-Africa Relations”
Professor Li Anshan is widely regarded as the preeminent Chinese scholar on African affairs. Li, who's now a professor emeritus at Peking University and President of the Chinese Association of African History, has shaped the Chinese intellectual discourse on Africa probably more than anyone else in academia. ...
FOCAC Comes as Both China and the U.S. Are Evolving Their Africa Policies
The upcoming FOCAC summit comes at a critical time when both the United States and China are actively transitioning their engagement strategies in Africa. For the Chinese, the summit will provide an opportunity to formally lift the veil on a new set ...
Last Week it Was B3W, This Week It’s The Blue Dot Network
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken led a discussion yesterday in Paris (photo) on the Blue Dot Network, another White House initiative aimed at curtailing China's Belt and Road Initiative. Blinken was joined by U.S. and European corporate and ...
Almost Every Country in Africa Has Now Received Chinese Vaccines
46 African countries to date have received shipments of Chinese vaccines, either sold, donated, or both, according to the latest update from the Beijing-based consulting firm Bridge's vaccine tracker report. In total, China has shipped 72.3 million doses ...
China Shuns World’s Poorest Countries For COVID Vaccine Distribution
The overwhelming majority of Chinese COVID vaccines have been sold to middle-income countries with only about 2% going to low-income states, according to new research by the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Since ...
Week in Review: Pangolins, Power and Payments
Nigerian customs authorities at the port of Lekki sized a record 7.1 tons of pangolin scales on Wednesday and arrested three suspects. A fourth, believed to be the smuggling kingpin is still at large. The endangered pangolin is now the most hunted mammal on earth and a seizure ...
China’s Evolving Military Diplomacy in the Global South
By Lukas Fiala, LSE IDEAS China Foresight August 1st marked the 94th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). While CGTN celebrated the occasion with a blockbuster-esque video, showcasing the PLA’s growing military strength and operational know-how, China’s ambassador to ...
A Peek Into the Mysterious World of Chinese Diplomacy
Chinese diplomats around the world are comprised of a mix of reclusive bureaucrats who strenuously avoid public engagement and a new generation of assertive, sometimes even downright aggressive so-called "Wolf Warriors" who wage combat with Beijing's critics.
With Infection Rates Rising, Chinese COVID Vaccines Will Face a Critical Test in Egypt
Egypt is entering a third wave of COVID-19 infections prompting the government to announce new lockdowns and other measures in an effort to contain the latest phase of the outbreak. The timing is especially dangerous, warn health authorities, due to festivities marking the end of Ramadan where ...
The Mideast’s Travel and Hospitality Industry Has a Lot at Stake in the WHO’s Impending Ruling on Chinese Vaccines
Representatives from the Mideast's travel industry are closely watching their news feeds for any updates on the World Health Organization's impending decision as to whether or not to grant emergency use approval to Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac. Currently, the ...
This Tweet Shows Why the U.S. Effort to Dislodge Huawei in Africa is Just Not Going to Work
Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama posted a tweet on Wednesday that showcased the depth of Huawei's ties in Africa's largest market and why it is going to be extremely difficult for the United States to get Nigeria or other African countries to abandon the Chinese ...
Kenyan State Media Features a Full-Throated Denunciation of Western Genocide Claims Against China’s Treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang
The state-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation published a stinging editorial on Wednesday by one of its own journalists, Eric Biegon, that slammed U.S., European and Australian accusations of genocide leveled against China for its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. ...
The DRC Wants to Renegotiate Some of Its Chinese Contracts. Hopefully, for Their Sake, They Read the Fine Print.
DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi apparently wants to renegotiate some of the contracts that his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, signed with the Chinese, according to a report by Africa Intelligence. Argentina too, like the DRC, tried to ...
Ghanaian Rosewood is Showing Up in China But No One’s Really Sure How It’s Getting There
Ghana's former Lands Minister, Inusah Fuseini, acknowledged that despite the ban on rosewood exports that he imposed when he was in office, large quantities of the precious timber are being smuggled to China, but he just doesn't seem to know how traffickers are getting away with it. ...
Tech Digest: How Chinese, Kenyan, and Swedish Music Streaming Apps Are All Battling Out in Africa
2021 has been a big year for music streaming in Africa. Global streaming giants are flocking to the African market with Swedish music streaming provider Spotify announcing a sweeping expansion to 40 new countries on the continent. As Spotify attempts to expand its reach in Africa, ...
U.S. Is Apparently Determined to See if It Can Build a “Belt & Road Alternative.” Biden to Discuss With Suga Next Week in DC.
U.S. President Joe Biden appears increasingly determined for the U.S. to rally allies in Europe and Asia to develop a rival to China's Belt and Road Initiative. The issue will reportedly be on the agenda next week when Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to meet with ...
With an Eye on China, U.S. Appoints Veteran Aid Industry Executive to Lead Vaccine Distribution Effort
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Monday that Gayle Smith, a former U.S. Agency for International Development administrator and chief executive of the ONE Campaign to eradicate poverty and preventable disease, will become Washington's point person on global vaccine distribution. ...
China Increases Vaccine Deliveries to Africa According to Latest Distribution Figures
China has significantly expanded the breadth of its vaccine distribution drive in Africa in the past two weeks, according to new government figures (April 4) published by state broadcaster CGTN. The number of African countries that received Chinese vaccine shipments lagged ...
Five Reasons Why Chinese Private Investment is Flowing Into Africa
Almost a decade, China passed the United States to become Africa's leading source of foreign direct investment. LSE Senior Visiting Fellow Shirley Ze Yu explains why Chinese companies are looking to Africa for new opportunities and how today's African market is reminiscent of what China ...
What Will it Take to Realize Biden’s Vision of an Alternative BRI?
U.S. President Joe Biden's commitment to rolling out infrastructure domestically and internationally is setting up a fascinating race with China. After years of withdrawing from multilateral cooperation and refusing to engage with the realities of climate change, the current push raises ...
The Central Chinese Province of Hunan is Now a Major Hub For China-Africa Engagement
When most people think about the major centers of Sino-Africa engagement, cities like Guangzhou and Beijing tend to come to mind first. How about Changsha? Well, not so much. But if you're not familiar with what's going on in Changsha and ...
With China’s Vaccine Distribution Drive Now Running at Full Speed, Calls Grow Louder for the U.S. To Do Something, Anything, to Get in the Game
In the three weeks since the U.S. government announced it would release some of its surplus supply of Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccines to Mexico and Canada and indicated that Washington was finally ready to challenge China's dominance in global vaccine deliveries, there's been no visible ...
Tech Digest: With China’s Tech Giants Increasingly Shut Out of the EU & U.S., Africa Now Looks a Lot More Appealing
Oversaturation in China’s domestic tech market and a pandemic-fuelled cash crunch are driving Chinese firms to expand their African ventures. As 2021’s first quarter comes to a close, let’s take stock of the scoreboard: ...
Inclusion Talk and Its Limits
On Friday, the official White House Twitter account posted a brief video featuring a message from President Joe Biden to the African Union. In the message, he expresses support for the AU summit, and solidarity with the peoples of Africa in dealing with crises like climate change and the ...
In a Surprise Move, Kenya’s Safaricom Suspends Its Huawei-Powered 5G Roll Out
Kenya's largest telecom operator, Safaricom, announced on Tuesday that it will suspend deployment of its new Huawei-powered fifth-generation (5G) mobile network. The news came as a surprise to many, given that the company has already completed testing and trials of the new network's high-speed ...
After Upbeat Meeting With President Buhari, Wang Yi Leaves Nigeria For the DR Congo
Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday before leaving for the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the FM's five-nation week-long Africa tour. The meeting seemed upbeat,
Chinese Media Coverage of Wang’s Visit Sticks Closely to Official Talking Points
Chinese official media coverage of Wang Yi's visit to Nigeria closely adhered to the Foreign Ministry's three priorities for its policy in Africa: 1) vaccine cooperation, 2) economic recovery and 3) a yet to be defined concept called "transformative development." ...
Editorial: Nairobi Expressway Toll Deal With Chinese Contractor Risks Creating Another “White Elephant”
The Business Daily Editorial Board warned the government that the proposed toll road pricing scheme for the new 27km Nairobi Expressway jeopardizes the financial stability of the project and risks creating another "white elephant" like the embattled Standard Gauge Railway. The ...
China’s Closing More Deals to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines, But None So Far in Sub-Saharan Africa
The list of countries signing up to procure Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines is growing, largely in developing countries, according to the U.S. news site Axios. While there are two African countries on the list, Egypt and Morocco, it's notable that so far no sub-Saharan ...
Everybody Seems to Agree That Chinese Overseas Lending is Decreasing… But By How Much?
Analysts Agatha Kratz and Matthew Mingey from the China-focused research firm Rhodium Group challenged the findings of a controversial dataset produced by Boston University's Global Policy Development Center. While Kratz and Mingey agree that lending by China's two major policy banks, the China ...
It’s Not Entirely Clear if CGTN’s New Branding Campaign is Promoting a Country or a TV Channel
If you didn't know anything about CGTN, China's state-run international television network, it'd be easy to mistake their new promotional spot as a slickly-produced commercial for the Chinese government's engagement in Africa. Images of Chinese contractors dancing with locals, doctors ...
Safaricom’s Decision to Suspend Its Huawei-Powered 5G Network is Just a Business Story
It's going to be very tempting for a lot of people in Washington, D.C. to read the news that Kenya's leading telco, Safaricom, suspended the rollout of its new Huawei-powered 5G network as evidence that the company finally came to its senses about the dangers of using ...
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 ...
Tshisekedi Sacks Head of DRC’s State Mining Company Just Weeks After Release of Blockbuster Corruption Investigation
DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi fired the powerful head of the country's state-run mining company Gécamines on Friday in an apparent effort to gain control of the narrative following last week's release of a damning international investigation that revealed widespread corruption at the firm.
China’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Reaffirms Support For Addis, Keeps Up the Pressure on the U.S.
China's ambassador to Ethiopia, Zhou Zhiyuan (photo), convened a press conference on Friday to further bolster the support conveyed by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his surprise visit to Addis Ababa earlier in the week. Zhou reiterated Beijing's support for Prime ...
With an IMF Deal in the Bag, the Big Question is How Will Hichilema Handle Zambia’s Chinese Debts?
Zambian President Haikainde Hichilema (photo) got the news he was hoping for on Friday when the International Monetary Fund announced that it had granted preliminary approval for a $1.4 billion, three-year credit facility to the economically beleaguered country. President Hichilema's government ...
The Uganda Airport Controversy is Prompting Renewed Discussion in East Africa About Chinese Debt
The last two weeks' uproar over (unfounded) allegations that Uganda will forfeit the Entebbe International Airport is finally winding down. It's making way for a more nuanced, thoughtful discussion on the implications of Chinese loans to East African countries. Economist and ...
BBC Apologizes to Professor Deborah Brautigam For Misrepresenting Her Views on “Debt Trap Diplomacy”
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) apologized to Professor Deborah Brautigam, director of the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, for editing an interview she did with the network last week in such a way that it sounded like she was a proponent of ...
Bad China Takes: Debt, Scrambles, and Bases
The Wall Street Journal is the latest U.S. news outlet to publish unconfirmed Pentagon claims that China seeks to build a second military outpost in Africa, this time on the Atlantic coast. Monday's article was almost identical to an AP story published ...
The French Media’s View of FOCAC Was Decidedly Negative
Generally, the French view of last week's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation conference that took place in Senegal was not very positive. With headlines that spoke of Africa's "disillusionment" with China or overtly racist cartoons depicting China's vaccine donations on the continent, pessimism ...
FOCAC 2018 vs. 2021
Researchers and analysts are beginning to work their way through the 40-page Dakar Action Plan that provides more detail on the outcomes of last week's FOCAC. If past FOCAC events are any guide, it's likely that it will take at least two to three weeks to fully ...
Chinese Diplomats Push Back on Claim Beijing is Cutting Back on Financial Support For Africa
China's ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian, challenged assertions that Beijing is reducing its financial support for Africa. "I can assure you, the financial support from China to Africa will only increase. It will never reduce,” he told journalists at a press conference in Nairobi on Friday.