China, Kenya Cut the Ribbon on Hugely Important Infrastructure Financing Experiment

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, together with Ambassador Zhou Pingjian, officially commissioned the $650 million Nairobi Expressway on Sunday. The project is gearing up to be the most important infrastructure financing test underway in Africa today. The 27-kilometer expressway was built and ...

Chinese EV Giant BYD Looks for Lithium in Africa and Expands Dealer Network in Brazil

Two big stories this week about the Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD: BATTERIES: Rather than buy lithium, a key ingredient in EV batteries, on the open market and face steadily rising prices, the company instead will buy six of its own mines ...

GM Begins Exporting Chevy Onix From China To Mexico

SAIC-GM, General Motors’ main joint venture in China, announced on Sunday that it sent the first shipment of 200 Chevy Onix units manufactured at the GM Dong Yue plant to supply the local market of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. (GM AUTHORITY)

Kenya’s New Nairobi Expressway is Popular. Its Tolls? Not So Much

It's been a week since Kenya's Chinese-built Nairobi Expressway opened to the public. The road itself is very popular, but comments on Twitter make clear that users aren't in love with the cost of accessing the road.  The road is a public-private ...

So Far, The New Chinese-Built Nairobi Expressway Isn’t Doing Much to Relieve Traffic Congestion

This is what critics of the new Nairobi Expressway feared would happen: that a select few wealthy motorists would be able to afford the tolls while everyone else is relegated to the side roads that are jammed far beyond capacity.

Motorists Respond to Nairobi Expressway Grand Opening

Kenyan social media influencers were among the lucky few that were invited to drive along the Nairobi Expressway during this weekend's public trial. Not surprisingly, the reactions were overwhelmingly positive on both YouTube and Twitter, especially since they had the roads to themselves.

Chinese and Australian Companies Battle For Control of Massive Congolese Lithium Mine

Two mining majors, one from China and the other from Australia, are fighting a pitched battle over a 15% share of the massive Manono lithium mine in the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo. While normally such a small ownership stake is ...

Chinese-Built Nairobi Expressway to Open to Cars Next Week, But First It Was Runners’ Turn to Use the New Road

Thousands of Kenyans filled the new Chinese-financed and built Nairobi Expressway on Sunday when they ran/walked along the new road as part of the Nairobi City Marathon. President Uhuru Kenyatta was on hand to start the race and told everyone that ...

COVID Lockdowns Scrambling Strategic Metals Sector

Disruptions caused by COVID-19 lockdowns in China, the Ukraine war and the ongoing crisis at the South African port of Durban are roiling the strategic battery sector, used for e-vehicles. While prices are falling in the short term due to pandemic restrictions, stocks for battery companies show that in the ...

Mounting Public Anger in Nairobi Over the Perception of Infrastructure “Apartheid”

While there's palpable excitement in Kenyan capital about the imminent opening of the new 27-kilometer Nairobi Expressway there's an equal amount of "anger, resentment, despair, and frustration" about the impact the new highway is having on the road below. People are ...

Nairobi Expressway Tolls Increase Before It’s Even Opened

Kenya’s new Chinese-built Nairobi Expressway is hiking its toll prices, even though it hasn’t opened yet. The government announced that motorists using the motorway will pay 350 Kenyan shillings ($3.03) more than previously announced, bringing the total toll to between 120 and 1,800 shillings ($1.04-$12.54), depending on the ...

Excitement Rising in Nairobi for Expressway Launch

Excitement is mounting in Nairobi in the runup to the formal commissioning of the Kenyan capital's new Chinese-built Nairobi Expressway. The online reaction ranges from praise for the highway as an expression of democracy, to angry refusals to participate in its automatic tolling system. ...
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