Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
China’s Confusing, Contradictory Environmental Agenda
While scrolling today I came across this great piece by the China expert and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, laying out the wider implications of China's much-discussed commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Rudd points out that ...
What It Was Like to Watch the Insurrection in the U.S. From South Africa
Lordeee…I went to bed early on Wednesday night, only to wake up to a full screen of notifications from the New York Times, and pictures of horned men storming the US Capitol. On the edge of the world in Johannesburg, I’m struck by the fact that these events ...
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 ...
Jack Ma’s Disappearance Is a Setback For Chinese Soft Power in Africa
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Africa at the moment. It has become a multi-decade tradition that the FM's first foreign trip of the year is always to Africa. These trips are arguably less important for what they achieve (although announcements of new deals frequently follow) ...
The China-Mediterranean Observer: How Will a New/Old Biden Mideast Policy Impact China’s Ambitions in the Region?
The killing of the Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the future of American foreign policy toward the Middle East under President Biden, and the tensions between France and the Muslim world are the three key topics of recent Chinese commentaries. The ...
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Begins 5-Nation Africa Tour
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will begin a five-nation African tour on Monday in Nigeria in what's now a 30-year old custom of Beijing's top diplomat always starting the year with a visit to the continent. After Nigeria, Wang will fly ...
Why Agricultural Cooperation Needs To Be High on the Agenda at Next Year’s China-Africa Summit
In less than a year, the 8th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit will take place in Senegal. Ever since the first FOCAC Ministerial Conference held in Beijing in 2000, this triennial Summit has been gradually institutionalized as a platform for bilateral and multilateral dialogues to shape ...
10 Issues That Will Shape China-Africa Relations in 2021
1. VACCINES: With the U.S., EU on the Sidelines, China's Vaccine Distribution in Africa Could Produce Huge Geopolitical Dividends China is building a COVID-19 vaccine distribution pipeline in Africa including a cold-chain air bridge from Shenzhen, a distribution hub in ...
Rise of Special Economic Zones in Africa: Can Agricultural Processing Be the Next SEZ Success Story?
By Sophia Kladaki and Jing Cai, Research Analysts at Development Reimagined “There is no one model of development” is one of the key principles, we, the team at Development Reimagined, try to champion when looking at key issues of economic growth ...
COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution in Africa Presents China With a Golden Geopolitical Opportunity
The same week that 100,000 doses of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Africa for the first time, news emerged from the World Health Organization that its Covax vaccine alliance is in trouble. Reuters reported that ...
China Accused (Again) of Spying on the African Union
Today's Reuters report that detailed how suspected Chinese hackers broke into African Union data networks to siphon off surveillance video sparked a whole new round of "I told you so." The initial reaction online to the report was essentially what do you ...
The Optics of Leadership in the COVID-19 Era
As 2020 crawls to its end, it's becoming clear that, all things considered, China is emerged from the year's nested crises in better shape than many expected. While Europe and Japan seem headed to new slumps, and the American recovery also ...