Why Kenya Will Struggle to Repay the Chinese Loans for its Standard Gauge Railway

Newly-elected Kenyan President William Ruto's fulfillment of a campaign promise that reversed his predecessor's mandate that cargo from the Port of Mombasa has to be transported via the Standard Gauge Railway instead of trucks may have been smart politically, but it will likely cripple the ...

Kenya’s New Transport Secretary Criticizes Previous Government’s Deals with China

This week’s confirmation hearing for Kenya’s new Transport Secretary included some revealing details about prominent Chinese projects like the recently inaugurated Nairobi Expressway. Kipchumba Murkomen reacted to widespread complaints about the tolls charged to use the road, a key part of its public-private partnership funding agreement with China Road and ...

Chinese Building of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base Speeds Up

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), a U.S. think tank affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, published satellite images appearing to show rapid progress in the Chinese-constructed Ream naval base in Cambodia, with land being cleared and construction underway. This ...

What Kenya’s Embattled Standard Gauge Railway Tells Us About the Future of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

The Wall Street Journal has published a series of articles and videos over the past three weeks detailing what they're describing as "Belt and Road 2.0" -- a slimmed down, much more conservative version of the nearly ten-year-old Chinese global infrastructure initiative.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary Nominee Pushes Back Against Default Allegations

“We should not be a country that should walk into the defaulting mode,” says Musadia Mudavadi, a nominee to become Kenya’s new Cabinet Secretary. Mudavadi committed himself to meet Kenya’s obligations amid allegations that Nairobi defaulted on repayments for its Standard Gauge ...

Rail-Sea Lines Boost China-Africa Trade

Multimodal rail-sea lines are increasingly transforming China’s trade with Europe and Africa. This week a train laden with Chinese products departed Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province, bound for Casablanca in Morocco. A second hybrid line is taking Chinese apple juice concentrate from Gansu province to ...

Indonesian President Joko Widodo Does Final Site Inspection of New Chinese-built High Speed Railway

Indonesian President Joko Widodo got his first look at Southeast Asia's only high-speed railway that will cut travel times between Jakarta and Bandung from three hours to just 40 minutes. The 142km railway, now 90% complete, is a big gamble for ...

Ethiopia Debuts New Chinese-Built Science Museum

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed inaugurated a new Chinese-built museum of science in Addis Ababa last week. He said the museum "offers both the young and old a place to inquire, explore, innovate and invent" and praised how it was "built in ...

Sorry, Mr. Minister, China Isn’t Going to Finance Your Railway

Nigeria's Transportation Minister Mu'azu Sambo made a remarkable statement during a press conference on Friday. He is apparently still waiting for the China Exim Bank to come through with funding to build a pair of very expensive, multi-billion dollar railways. ...

Massive Supply Chain Disruptions Expected on Key China-Africa Trade Route Due to South African Labor Unrest

Key strategic resources exported via South African ports to China are expected to face severe disruptions in the coming days and weeks in response to the declaration of force majeure by SA's state-run logistics operator Transet in response to the escalating labor strife with its ...

One of China’s Largest BRI Builders Faces Economic Headwinds at Home

Business is booming for the China Communications Construction Company. It is one of the world's largest construction companies and built many of China's iconic BRI projects, including the controversial Port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka and the Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya. Signed contracts jumped 22% in ...

All Portuguese-speaking Countries Move Up in Chinese Infrastructure Development Index

All eight of the world's Portuguese-speaking edged higher in a key Chinese infrastructure development index that assesses the investment climate in 71 countries around the world. Brazil, Angola, and Portugal were the highest ranked Lusophone states in the 2022 "One Belt, ...
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