Category: Development

China famously lent billions of dollars to countries across Africa to build expensive, new railways. Nigeria, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya all used loans from Beijing to build new lines using a standard gauge (SGR) that will one day ...

Drive 35km south from Salima town, in the central region of Malawi you will see a signpost on the side of the road that reads “China Aid Malawi Agriculture Technology Development Centre”. And then you drive another 500 meters from ...

Economist David Ndii, one of Kenya's leading political economy thinkers, a popular columnist and a longtime critic of the government's policy of borrowing heavily from China to build infrastructure, conducted a fascinating hour-long interview with Kenyan philosopher Joseph Kabuthi ...

Earlier this week I wrote a story about the reputational risks associated with China's so-called "Mask Diplomacy" initiative where it's donating millions of PPE to countries around the world. The basic premise of the story is that if everything goes well, then China wins, but ...

China's embassies across Africa are coordinating both public and private donations to local stakeholders battling the spread of COVID-19. The donations appear to be part of a larger Chinese strategy to raise Beijing's profile as a leading provider of humanitarian assistance, particularly to lesser developed countries.

Workers at Harare's central medical center, Wilkins Hospital, are putting the final touches on a major renovation project that was funded by Chinese companies operating in Zimbabwe. It's not immediately clear which companies were involved in the half-million-dollar upgrade of the ...

COVID-19’s rapid move from warning sign to global pandemic has yanked the spotlight onto a number of questions humanity has been uneasily avoiding for years. Beyond the human-focused ones like how to keep a global economy running when flights are shut down, it has also drawn attention ...

Ethiopian Airlines jets packed with medical supplies donated by Chinese billionaire and philanthropist Jack Ma landed at airports across Africa yesterday. Each country is to receive an equal allocation of masks, COVID-19 testing kits and protective wear for medical personnel. ...

Popular Nigerian political commentator Onye Nkuzi (nom de plume) reminded his 155,000+ followers on Twitter that while China may be getting a lot of attention for its recent COVID-19 relief efforts, it's the United States that remains the dominant public health donor in ...

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the distribution of the millions of masks, testing kits and other medical supplies donated by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma will begin as early as today. The Boeing 777 Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane full of supplies ...

Zimbabwean farmers have long relied on traditional knowledge systems to read the climate and decide when to head for the fields at the start of what they consider the rainy season and prepare for planting. However, despite successive poor harvests caused ...

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 ...