Category: Ports
Neither a Pandemic nor Economic Crisis Appears to be Slowing China’s Infrastructure Building Spree in Africa
Regular readers will have noticed the almost daily announcements of Chinese infrastructure projects across Africa. While quantifying all these new contracts is a challenge, it does appear that China's state-run construction companies' African operations have been quite resilient during the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent economic crisis. ...
Professor: Who Needs “Debt Traps” When China Can Just Buy African Assets on the Cheap?
University of Notre Dame China scholar, Professor Joshua Eisenman, used this month's $221 million equity infusion by the state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) into the Lekki Deep Sea Port Project currently under construction at the Lagos Free Trade Zone as another point of evidence as to why ...
Did Tanzania’s President Really Cancel the Bagamoyo Port Deal with China? Probably Not.
There's widespread speculation circulating that Tanzanian President John Magufuli canceled the controversial $10 billion Bagamoyo port deal with China Merchants Holding International (CMHI). The story surfaced last week after the little-known website "Nairobi Mini Bloggers" website published a post ...
Eager to Resume Trade With China, Kenya Announces New Plan to Disinfect Imports
The Kenyan government announced new measures to ensure that imports from China and other countries will be disinfected to avoid infection from the COVID-19. Although scientists do not believe the virus can survive the duration and temperatures related to container shipping, the government's new strategy appears designed ...
From Ship to Rail to Air, Kenya’s Trade With China Slowing to a Halt
Chinese port activity increased in March in what many see as the first good news to come out of China's hobbled economy since the COVID-19 outbreak effectively shut down the economy last month. The container throughput at the eight of China's ...
Tanzania’s Drive to Become Regional Transport Hub Gets Boost From New SGR Deals With Burundi, DRC
Tanzania Transport Minister Isack Kamwelwe signed agreements with both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi to link up their future Standard Gauge Railway lines to Tanzania's proposed SGR. The 1,457km Tanzanian SGR line will connect inland East Africa from ...
Chinese Firm Dismisses Tanzania’s Claims on Stalled $10 Billion Port as “Not True”
China’s largest port operator accused the Tanzanian government of spreading “false information” and misguiding the public about the cause of stalled negotiations over the $10 billion Bagamoyo port development it is backing in the country. China Merchants Holdings International (CMHI) has ...
Rwanda Partners with DP World, Alibaba and Zhejiang Province to Open New $35 Million Dry Port
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Dubai Ports World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem officially inaugurated the Kigali Logistics Platform, Rwanda's largest inland cargo handling facility. The new dry port also hosts a 2,500-square meter bonded warehouse as part of the Rwanda Digital ...
China Was Never Going to Seize the Port of Mombasa if Kenya Defaulted on its SGR Debts
For many Kenyans, the Port of Mombasa is much more than just a container terminal that facilitates shipping trade with the outside world. It's a prized national asset that serves as an indispensable economic hub for all of East Africa and a facility that hundreds of thousands ...
Tanzania Tells China Merchants Holdings: “Take It or Leave It!”
Tanzanian President John Magufuli seems to be taking a page from Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's playbook on how to negotiate with the Chinese. Mahathir last year, if you recall, abruptly canceled a multi-billion dollar rail and oil pipeline deal with the Chinese, calling them ...