Related Posts

China Moves from Infrastructure to Legal Influence in Africa

Prosecutors and representatives from twelve African countries — Ethiopia, Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe — gathered in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on October 29, 2025, for the second China-Africa Prosecutorial Cooperation Forum. The meeting’s theme, ...

China, Zambia and Tanzania Seal $1.4 Billion Deal to Modernize Tazara Railway

More than a year after a memorandum of understanding was signed in Beijing, China, Zambia and Tanzania have finalized an agreement to rehabilitate and modernize the Tazara railway. Built by China in the 1970s, the strategic line links Zambia to Tanzania and runs to the port of ...

Congo Uses Cobalt Export Limits to Force Processing Deals With Chinese Miners

The Democratic Republic of Congo appears determined to leverage its negotiating power with Chinese and other mining companies to secure major concessions on local cobalt processing. That was the signal sent by Congolese Mines Minister Louis Watum, who said — according ...

China’s Biggest Cobalt Miner Faces a Harsh New Reality in DR Congo

The world’s leading exporter of cobalt, China’s CMOC Group, may turn out to be the biggest loser under the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s new export quota policy, which is set to replace the existing moratorium on cobalt shipments beginning in mid-October.

Stop Calling the Lobito Corridor a U.S. Gambit Against China

There’s a lazy but geopolitically irresistible allure in branding Angola’s Lobito Corridor as a U.S. bid to blunt China’s influence in Africa and the region’s mineral supply chains. I get why the framing sticks: it’s neat, dramatic, and easy to sell. ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Pain of Un-Polarity

“THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
This post by U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week may end up leaving a more lasting mark than the actual summit he attended.

Get a daily email packed with the latest news and analysis from Africa, Asia, and across the Global South.
Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping ...

African Countries Should Stop Being Questioned About Their Diplomatic Engagements

No nation should have to defend its right to choose its own diplomatic partners. Yet, in recent years, African countries have increasingly been called to account whenever those partners happen to be China or Russia.  When President William Ruto of Kenya ...

A Display of Power, Not Partnership, in Washington

This is a is a long overdue column that I intended to write back in March after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa left Washington after that now infamous joint press conference in the Oval Office where he was ambushed by U.S. President Donald Trump for challenging the ...

Will China’s Trade Strategy in Africa Succeed Where Europe’s Didn’t?

At a recent ministerial meeting in the central Chinese city of Changsha, Beijing announced an ambitious new phase of its engagement with Africa: the possibility of eliminating customs duties on exports from all 53 African countries (except for Eswatini, which maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan). While many ...

China’s New Mediation Body Courts the Global South on Dispute Resolution

A couple of weeks ago in Hong Kong, China quietly inaugurated the International Organization for Mediation (IoM), marking what may become a significant shift in global dispute resolution. Thirty-two countries from Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe attended the launch, underscoring Beijing’s ambition to build a ...

Canadian, Chinese Companies at Odds Over Impact of Seismic Activity on Congo Copper Mine

The Democratic Republic of Congo's Kamoa-Kakula copper mine, co-owned by China's Zijin Mining and Canada's Ivanhoe Mines, is at the center of a dispute following seismic activity that has temporarily halted underground operations. Zijin Mining reported multiple instances of roof falls ...

China’s CMOC Group and Glencore Differ Over DR Congo’s Cobalt Export Ban

The Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s leading producer of cobalt, has imposed a four-month ban on cobalt exports in an effort to curb market oversupply and stabilize falling prices. But the move has ignited a conflict between two of the country’s largest mining companies: China’s CMOC ...

With Chinese Backing, Cameroon Opens Second Phase of Kribi Deep-Sea Port

Cameroon opened the second phase of its Kribi deep-sea port earlier this month, marking a major step in the country’s efforts to strengthen its logistics infrastructure and expand its role in regional trade. The government completed the $650 million ...
Page 1 of 5125