Today is a public holiday in South Africa – Human Rights Day. There’s a certain irony in spending the day focusing on China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vladimir Putin, knee-deep in a human rights disaster.
What one makes of the Ukraine crisis increasingly maps on where one lives. This is made clear by a remarkable new set of polling data recently published by the European Council on Foreign Relations ...
Category: Governance
New Kenyan Government Releases Controversial Chinese Loan Agreements For Standard Gauge Railway
Kenya's new Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen, rocked the political establishment in Nairobi over the weekend when he released the first details about the controversial multi-billion dollar loan from China to build the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
Deportation Lapses Revealed in Ghana’s Illegal Mining Scandal
New revelations about how En (Aisha) Huang, Ghana’s so-called Queen of Galamsey (illegal small-scale gold mining), managed to make her way back to the country despite being deported are adding political heat to an already red-hot controversy. A ...
China and the Future of Environmental Governance in Ghana
Ghana's worsening economic crisis is prompting concerns it will further erode the country's already weak environmental governance system that Chinese actors have profited from in the mining, fishing, and timber sectors. Meantime, local communities across the country suffer amid declining fish ...
Liberia’s House of Reps Blocks Controversial Chinese Mining Deal
A fascinating political struggle is playing out in Liberia over a controversial 25-year iron ore deal with Chinese company BAO Chico. Last week, the Senate ratified the deal in what critics contend was effectively a rubber stamp decision after only minimal discussion and no expert ...
World Bank Chief David Malpass on Debt Transparency and the Challenges of Working With the Chinese
World Bank President David Malpass pushed back against the suggestion that China engages in predatory lending to developing countries and instead described the lack of transparency in working with China as a "challenge." Malpass made the comments during an interview on Sunday with CBS Face the Nation ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
Should Chinese Nationals Help Supervise Mining Activities in the DRC? A Military Governor Thinks So, But Kinshasa Says Otherwise
The Vice Minister of Mines in the DR Congo, Godard Motemona, declared that the appointment of three Chinese nationals to help supervise Chinese mining activities in the far eastern province of Ituri is "null and void." The ...
The Case For Better African Governance in Managing Chinese Development Projects
There's been mounting criticism of Chinese development projects in Africa by both political and civil society actors in response to rising debt levels, environmental degradation, and the maltreatment of local workers by Chinese managers. While many put the burden of responsibility ...
African Borrowers Need to Wake Up to the Reality of Chinese Loans
Chinese lending to developing countries has come under sharp focus since the release of several reports that have reshaped the debate. Unsurprisingly, many news reports, like the BBC’s “China: Big spender or loan shark” are ringing the alarm bells. However, I’d argue that the reports should rather prompt new ...
While Sinohydro’s Road Work Maybe Progressing Slowly in Ghana, Government Supporters Insist Progress is Being Made
Government supporters published videos on social media this weekend to push back against the narrative that progress isn't being made as part of the $2 billion Sinohydro-bauxite deal. Also, last month, the news site Graphic Online ...
Sicomines is Bracing For a Brutal Report From the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
The Sino-Congolese mining giant Sicomines is already trying to discredit a highly-anticipated report by the Congolese branch of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative even before the NGO's findings have been published. Radio France Internationale and other media ...