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Critical Minerals Weekly: China’s Rare Earth Reset, Copper Overcapacity, and Zimbabwe’s Big Lithium Gamble

This is a free preview of the upcoming Critical Minerals Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. After months of strategic restrictions, China has agreed to resume rare earth exports to the U.S. as ...

Panama Urges U.S. Not to Involve It in Disputes With China

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday asked the United States to refrain from dragging the Central American country into its "geopolitical conflict" with China. The appeal came after the U.S. embassy in Panama City announced a project to replace communications ...

Kenya’s FM Pushes China for Fast Approval of Financial Assistance Package

Kenya's top diplomat, Musalia Mudavadi, hoped that his visit to China this week would prompt Beijing to speed up approval of a large financial package that his government is counting on to build new roads and extend the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to the Ugandan border.

Wang Yi Conducts Speed Diplomacy With Nine African Foreign Ministers

China's top diplomat Wang Yi conducted another one of his signature rounds of speed diplomacy with foreign ministers from at least nine African countries on the sidelines of a ministerial gathering this week in central Hunan province. Specific details of the ...

Africa Now Has Duty-Free Access to the China Market, Now What?

Last year, in January, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called on China to do more to open its vast market to African goods by removing trade tariffs for the entire continent. This week, Museveni got what he asked for when China removed ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Confusing Developments in “Development”

This week I’m in Brussels, where I took part in a workshop on how the EU should shape its development strategy in response to China’s global influence.
I have joked in the past that it feels like I’ve attended this same ‘EU, Africa, and External Development Partners’ conference for ten years straight. 

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In a Swipe at the U.S., China Removes Tariffs for Nearly Every African Country

China will remove all trade tariffs on imported goods from 53 African countries in a move that starkly contrasts with U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-tariff agenda. Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the policy on Wednesday at the conclusion of a gathering ...

Is BYD’s Acceleration a Win for Latin America?

By Sally Jabiel A new world order is being contested in the electric vehicles sector. While the trade war between the United States and China rumbles on, the Chinese electric carmaker BYD has already pulled ahead in the race against its ...

Chinese EVs Price Wars Domino Effect on Africa’s Nascent EV Market

Faced with rising fuel costs, vehicle buyers in Kenya and Ethiopia are turning to affordable electric alternatives from Chinese manufacturers such as Changan, Neta, Wuling, and Xiaohu. These compact EVs, well-suited for taxi services and short-distance travel, are gaining ground as practical replacements for traditional ...