After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.
These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still ...
Category: Manufacturing
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: BYD Forging New Partnerships as African EV Market Lags
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. China's new electric vehicle (EV) exports to Africa are still lagging, as the regional market remains ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Leapmotor Bets on Hybrids to Crack South Africa
This is a free preview of the upcoming Chinese E-Mobility Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. China’s electric mobility push is gaining traction across Africa — on roads, in factories, and through battery value ...
Vietnam’s Growth Surges. But Is It Still a Bargain for Global Manufacturing?
Chinese companies are pouring into Vietnam, but rising costs and fragile foundations raise questions about how long the boom can last. Vietnam’s GDP grew 7.52% in the first half of 2025, recording its fastest first-half growth in 15 years. A record ...
Protest After Chinese-Made Jet Crashes in Bangladesh
Bangladeshi Police used tear gas to disperse angry students following the crash of an F-7 BGI Bangladesh Air Force jet into a school in Dhaka on Monday. 31 people were killed, including at least 25 children. The students protested on Tuesday ...
China–Africa Green Trade, Clean Tech Transfer Essential for Lasting Partnership
China's latest entry into Egypt, where it will establish a $658 million industrial complex focused on producing phosphoric acid using locally extracted phosphate ore, enhances the African nation's manufacturing profile. The China-Egypt industrial complex move follows promises China made ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
The Key Question in Vietnam: Is “Made in China” the Same as “Made by China?”
Manufacturers in Vietnam are still digesting last week's announcement by the United States that the Southeast Asian country will be subject to a 20% tariff for all locally-made exports and a 40% duty on all transshipments, presumably from China. The problem, ...
Indonesia and China’s Battery Alliance Must Be Built on Sustainability
In a bold display of ambition and diplomacy, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto stood beside Chinese executives last week to break ground on what is touted as Asia’s largest integrated electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem. Backed by $5.9 billion in ...
China Manufacturing Shrinks in June Despite Trade War Respite
China's manufacturing activity ticked up in June but remained in contraction territory, official data showed on Monday, as the truce in its trade war with the United States held. The Purchasing Managers' Index -- a key measure of industrial output -- ...
Chinese-Moroccan Joint Venture Inaugurates EV Battery Parts Plant
A Chinese-Moroccan joint venture announced on Wednesday the inauguration of a new factory for electric car battery components, the first of its kind in the North African country. The complex will ultimately have a production "capacity equivalent to 70 GWh per ...
China Factory Output Slumps but Consumption Offers Bright Spot
By Isabelle Kua China's factory output grew slower than expected last month as trade war pressures bit, official data showed Monday, while a bump in a key gauge of domestic consumption offered a rare bright spot for the economy. ...
Can Africa Move Up the Critical Mineral Value Chain? The Hard Truth Behind a Familiar Chorus
As China opens its doors wider to African exports, extending duty-free market access to all 53 diplomatic partners on the continent, the announcement was met with applause in ministerial corridors from Nairobi to Niamey. For many, the new policy represents another chance for Africa to claim ...
The Chinese FDI Boom in Africa That Wasn’t
For years, China has been seen as the pivotal international economic partner across Africa. That was certainly true in terms of steadily rising trade volumes and a fire hose of state backed loans that built roads, railways, and ports across the ...