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WEEK IN REVIEW: Ethiopia Widely Expected to Default on Portion of Its Debt

Ethiopia is widely expected to default on a portion of its debt as the government warned it will not be able to make a $33 million bond payment due on Monday. Ethiopia is in the midst of Chinese-led debt restructuring talks under the G20's Common Framework initiative. 

China’s Crisis Diplomacy Is in Overdrive – but to What Effect?

By Lukas Fiala 方朗克 When China’s Horn of Africa Envoy, Xue Bing, returned to Ethiopia earlier this week, he did so in the context of China’s increasingly proactive diplomacy across Africa and the Middle East. From the conflict in Gaza to the peace ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: Ethiopia Debt Update | China @COP28 | Chinese Energy Projects in Africa

Ethiopia is the latest African country that is now teetering on the verge of default after the government announced this week that it would not be able to make a $33 million bond payment. Eric speaks with Mark Bohlund, a senior ...

The Chinese on the Lion Mountain: Peering Into China’s Evolving Diaspora and Soft Power in Sierra Leone

A casino sits on the northwestern tip of Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. Shining neon lights unquelled by the hourly power outages adorn its exterior, flashing hues of pink, green, and yellow onto the red lanterns hanging outside the main entrance. Women dressed in qipaos deal cards ...

TikTok Finds Its Way Back Into Indonesia’s Booming E-Commerce Market

Chinese-owned TikTok announced on Monday that it is taking over 75% stake in Tokopedia, the Indonesian e-commerce unit of GoTo’s super-app ecosystem. The company said that it will spend a total of $1.5 billion and that the transaction will be completed by the first quarter of ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Plugging into African Agency

After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.
These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still ...