Category: Transportation
Nairobi Expressway Will Be the Setting for This Year’s Nairobi City Marathon
Amid excitement and controversy, Kenya is celebrating the opening of its new Nairobi Expressway in the most Kenyan way possible: by running a marathon. It was recently announced that the new Chinese-built highway will be the scenic setting for this year’s Nairobi City ...
Glencore Calls Force Majeure on Cobalt Exports as Durban Flooding Worsens Chinese Shipping Crisis
Glencore, the world’s largest cobalt producer, announced that it can’t fulfill its delivery commitments for cobalt hydroxide out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, due to severe flooding in the South African port city of Durban. The majority of cobalt exports from the DRC depart the continent via Durban. ...
Durban Port is Now Functional After Flooding Shutdown
South Africa’s key port of Durban is functional again after operations were disrupted by deadly flooding last week. The port now has to deal with a backlog of between 8,000 and 9,000 shipping containers. South Africa’s Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan told reporters the pileup should be cleared in five ...
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. ...
Nairobi Expressway Causes Controversies Amid Excitement
Even as Nairobi residents are buzzing with excitement about their new expressway, which will shave hours off cross-city commutes, the Chinese-built project is also raising popular jitters. Two recent controversies have highlighted the anxieties the project is raising about Chinese influence ...
APSONIC Is Another Chinese Company That You’ve Probably Never Heard but That’s Absolutely Crushing It in Africa
A Chinese maker of motorcycles is quietly cornering the African market. While Apsonic isn’t famous, the Guangzhou company has built up an impressive presence in West Africa, after setting up shop in Togo in 2003. Now its products are buzzing through ...
Shanghai Lockdown Causes Shipping Traffic Jam All Along Eastern China
The COVID lockdown that's causing a pileup of cargo vessels outside of the Port of Shanghai is now leading to shipping holdups all along China’s eastern seaboard. 477 ships, carrying everything from grain to metal ores are waiting all the way from Ningbo to the northern city of Tianjin. ...
Lockdowns, Floods in South Africa and China Prompt Massive Disruptions to One of the World’s Most Important Trade Routes
Simultaneous disruptions to the largest ports in China and South Africa are threatening to upend one of the world's most important trade routes. The ongoing lockdowns in Shanghai as part of the city's battle against Omicron have led to a major slowdown ...
Floods Shut Down Port of Durban, Posing Major Threat to China-Africa Trade
The devastating floods and landslides that have ravaged South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province all week are now impacting key arteries in the global supply chain and threatening one of China's most vital trade hubs in Africa. South Africa accounts for at ...
Namibia is the Latest African Country That Wants to Build a Railway to the Southern DRC’s Cobalt Mining Zone
Namibia is the latest in a growing number of African countries that wants to become the gateway for Congolese cobalt and other resources. The Namibian transport ministry just completed a feasibility study for a 770km railway that will connect the southern DRC mining hub of Lumbubashi with its port ...
Chinese-Made Electric Buses Launch in Nairobi
The Kenyan mobility startup BasiGo has assembled its first electric buses, using components from the Chinese automaker Build Your Dream (BYD). BasiGo closed a $4.3 million seed funding round in February to assemble and sell electric-powered buses. The company plans to supply more ...
China Donates Trucks, Non-Lethal Equipment to the Kenya’s Military
For the second time in a month, China is providing an East African military with a sizable donation of non-lethal equipment and support vehicles. On Monday, Kenya's Defense Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa took delivery of dozens of trucks and unspecified "engineering equipment" during ...