Anyone who knows a South African will be amply aware that the country is currently undergoing economically ruinous rolling blackouts labeled ‘loadshedding.’ Even if you don’t know them, South Africans are liable to follow you down the street, foam-flecked and shouting about Eskom, the corruption-addled state power utility.
The loadshedding scandal is rooted in corruption. It’s only the most visible part of a historical tragedy: how the ruling African National Congress ...
Day: July 12, 2022
African Countries Owe Way More to Private Creditors Than to China, Says New NGO Report
African governments owe nearly three times as much money to Western private creditors than they do to Chinese lenders, according to a new report by the UK-based NGO Debt Justice. The group's findings are based on World Bank ...
Chinese Weapons and Military Equipment Are Showing Up on the Battlefields of the Eastern DR Congo
Chinese-made weapons and military equipment are in wide use by the Congolese rebel group M23 and other factions battling in the eastern DRC, according to an investigation by the DRC news publication Politico.cd. "M23 weapons seized by the ...
A Glimpse into China’s Senior Diplomat’s Visit to Africa and Asia
Yang Jiechi, one of China's most senior foreign policy officials and a politburo member, visited Pakistan, The UAE, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe earlier this month and gave a rare interview to Xinhua about his trip. While he mostly stuck to official talking ...
Chinese Lithium Giant Expands into Argentina
The Chinese battery metals company Ganfeng Lithium Co. will spend $962 million to buy 100% of the Argentinian lithium compounds producer Lithea. The company owns lithium salt lakes with a capacity of 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year. Ganfeng Lithium ...
China and the Prospect of Early Retirement of Coal Plants in the Global South
By Alex Clark, Christoph Nedopil and Cecilia Springer Formerly the world’s largest public financier of coal, China has committed not to build new coal plants overseas. China has financed between 41 GW and 52 GW of currently operating ...