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Sri Lanka’s Debt Nightmare Kicks Off Familiar Narratives Abroad 

"We have lost the ability to repay foreign debt." This was the message from Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe to journalists on Tuesday. The announcement could signal a wave of defaults across the Global South and makes Sri Lanka the newest front in a war ...

China ‘Coming on Board’ Zambian Debt Talks: Treasury

Felix Nkulukusa, Zambia’s treasury secretary, confirmed discussions are now underway within the Chinese government about restructuring Zambian debt, as the African country grapples with the aftermath of its November 2020 default. This follows comments last week by Vicky Ford, the UK Minister for Africa, that ...

India-Africa Relations and the China Angle

India is becoming increasingly alarmed about China’s growing international influence, as frosty relations with Beijing persist despite recent Chinese overtures. This is especially true for Africa. India has long considered large swathes of the continent as a traditional sphere of influence. The Institute of Chinese ...

COVID Vaccine Distributions in Africa Were Once a Contested Issue Between the U.S. and China… But Not Anymore

As U.S. donations of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa surge, China’s supply to the continent is slumping. Analysis from the Beijing-based consultancy Bridge shows that over the last three months, China’s global provision of vaccines has been hovering close to zero. This is despite a ...

Equatorial Guinea Media Donation Highlights a Key Chinese Soft Power Strategy

China is making diplomatic inroads in Equatorial Guinea via an old tactic: donating broadcasting equipment. This comes as the West African country faces a lot of U.S. pressure due to fears that it might host China’s first Atlantic military base. Qi Mei, ...

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 ...

Kenyan Presidential Hopeful Wants a “Green” Future with China

George Wajackoya, an outlier in Kenya's upcoming presidential race, is doubling down on his suggestion to pay off his country's towering infrastructure debt to China with marijuana.  He urged Kenya to revolutionize its economic outlook by legalizing the cultivation of the plant: "Discovery of oil in ...

China, Africa, and a New Alternative International Order

There's an emerging consensus among many leading international relations scholars that Russia's invasion of Ukraine marked the official end of the post-Cold War era and the beginning of, well... actually... no one's actually sure what's coming next but whatever it is ...