Category: Development

Chinese overseas development aid and finance remains something of a mystery to many outside observers. The opacity of the Chinese system, combined with large language and cultural differences often lead international stakeholders to complain that it's difficult to distinguish between Chinese aid, concessional financing, and market-based lending/investments. ...

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta looked like he had a great time in France last week. After all, the weather in Paris this time of year is absolutely lovely and this being his first trip out of the country since the COVID-19 outbreak, he was able to get ...

Hi Eric, Just caught this statement [in your September 28 column "China Faces a Critical Test": "And let’s not forget that, should Kenya Railways default on the Nairobi-to-Mombasa SGR loan, there's always the Port of Mombasa that serves as collateral"] ...

China's Consul General in Cape Town, Lin Jing, is part of a growing number of Chinese diplomats in Africa who've been aggressively promoting the new book by Chinese President Xi Jinping that purportedly details China's successful development history.

A video of an unnamed Tanzanian official mocking Kenya for borrowing so much money from China to build the Standard Gauge Railway went viral in East Africa this week. "I do not want to mention ...

President Ali Mohamed Shein inaugured Zanzibar's new $129 million international terminal III, which was Chinese-funded and built. The hope is that this new facility will spur tourism that will generate the funds to repay the loans. Completion of ...

The Chinese-financed and built Standard Gauge Railway is losing money at an unsustainable rate of $9.2 million per month prompting renewed calls in parliament for the State House to renegotiate the $3.2 billion of loans used to construct the Nairobi to Mombasa ...

The United States government is proposing to severely restrict access to student visas from a majority of African countries in an effort to crack down on visa overstays.  The new proposal by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls for any ...

Kenya's difficulties in servicing its debts for the newly-built, Chinese-financed Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is nearing a breaking point. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, the railway failed to meet passenger and cargo volume targets and now the economic downturn brought on by the ...

Aminu Wali, 79, is long retired from a distinguished diplomatic career as Nigeria's envoy to China, the United Nations and a stint as the country's foreign minister. In a wide-ranging interview with the Premium Times newspaper, Wali reflected on the current state of ties with China and ...

Taiwan's newly-opened representative office in the capital of the self-declared state of Somaliland is ramping up its COVID-19 donation diplomacy with its latest government-to-government handover of PPE. Last week, Taiwan's representative Lou Chenhwa donated ...

Say what you want about the Chinese but there's no denying they are damned good at getting stuff done. The sight of a big beautiful new train on freshly laid tracks in Lagos yesterday was something to ...