Category: Africa

As Chinese Imports Flood In, Ethiopia’s Weavers Fight for Survival

By Dylan Gamba Behind the looms of a workshop in the heart of Addis Ababa, dozens of weavers deftly repeat the same motions to craft traditional dresses -- a centuries-old skill now threatened by Ethiopia's economic hardships.

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

How to Lure Chinese Financing Back to the Global South: Report

Global South countries face increasing financing pressure, endangering their ability to keep developing while also implementing measures to deal with a growing climate crisis. The disruption of global trade is coupled with a larger megatrend: flows of international capital to the developing world have turned negative. This means that countries are now routinely paying more to service loans than they receive in disbursements.

The vast majority of Global South borrowers ...

Kenya’s China Debt Deal Challenges Old Narratives

Kenya and China have reached a groundbreaking agreement to restructure $3.5 billion in railway loans, converting them from U.S. dollars into Chinese yuan. The move could save Kenya $215 million in debt servicing costs and marks the first time an African ...

Chinese Companies Are Changing the Way They Operate in Africa

By Elisa Gambino and Costanza Franceschini For most of the past 25 years, Chinese construction companies operating in Africa could count on generous financial backing from Chinese banks. Between 2000 and 2019, Chinese funders committed almost $50 billion to African transport ...

Inside China’s African Rail Projects: A Translator’s Unexpected Video Diary

A young Chinese man working as a bilingual English–French translator on Guinean infrastructure projects has found an unusual way to connect with Chinese youth. On the video platform Bilibili, he opened an account to document life on construction sites. To his audience’s surprise, his videos reveal rare, ...

Zambia’s Lawsuit Against Sino-Metal Sparks Chinese Social Media Storm

International media particularly in the Western countries but also in South Africa and India extensively covered the Sino-Metals Leach tailings disaster that happened back in February, amplifying its impact on lives of Zambian communities and the environment. However, Chinese media maintained a conspicuous silence for ...

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.

Africa-Asia Relations Beyond China

Africa was especially hard hit by Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, which ended years of duty-free access to the U.S. and triggered a rush to find new markets. China's announcement that it will remove all tariffs on African imports undoubtedly provides ...

Zambian Farmers Sue Chinese Mining Firms Over Toxic Spill

By Clément Varanges Almost 200 people affected by a major toxic spill at a northern Zambian mine have filed an $80-billion lawsuit against the Chinese firm that owns the mine, according to legal documents seen by AFP Wednesday. ...

From Shops to Factories, Chinese Merchants in South Africa Face Sudden Regulatory Chill

A Johannesburg court recently sentenced seven Chinese nationals to 20 years in prison each for trafficking 91 Malawian workers and forcing them into labor at a textile factory. The high-profile ruling has not only drawn headlines, but also triggered a new wave of enforcement pressure on ...

Why Sahel States Are Turning to Chinese Military Gear

In early September, Guinea’s port of Conakry turned into a military stage as convoys of CS/VP-14 mine-resistant vehicles, VN-22 6×6 infantry carriers, command and recovery vehicles, and even an SR-5 rocket artillery system rolled off Chinese cargo ships and headed toward Mali’s capital. ...

China’s Gradual but Growing Security Influence in Africa

China is steadily expanding its security presence in Africa through deeper military ties, weapons sales, and multinational deployments as UN Peacekeepers. In fact, China is now the largest arms supplier to Sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace ...
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