Category: Economy
Markets Optimistic Hichilema Will Resolve Zambia’s Debt Crisis
Global financial markets are telegraphing their relief that Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema decisively won last week's presidential vote and that he'll now have the necessary mandate to bring an end to the country's worsening debt crisis. Both Zambia's kwacha and ...
TRANSLATION: Is It a Good Idea For Chinese Companies in Africa to Reply Primarily on Chinese Workers?
Few issues in the China-Africa relationship are as old or as contentious as that of labor. Accusations that Chinese companies prefer to hire their own unskilled laborers and then mistreat the local employees they do hire are among the widely believed perceptions about Chinese labor practices in ...
Port Closures in China and Higher Yields in the U.S. Threaten to Batter Africa’s Fragile Economies
Many of Africa's already embattled economies are bracing for more pain as the rapidly spreading Delta variant provokes new disruptions to the global trading system and encourages bond investors to flee emerging markets for shelter in U.S. government debt. ...
Zambia’s New President Has a Unique Opportunity To Reset Ties With China
Hakainde Hichilema's decisive election victory to become the eighth president of Zambia in the post-colonial era is a gust of good news that Africa and the world at large badly needed. His win is an endorsement of democracy in a region where we've seen so many other ...
Zambians Go to the Polls in a Tight Presidential Election with No China-Bashing, For Once
Ballots are now being counted in Zambia's general election that took place on Thursday. Presidential incumbent Edgar Lungu faces opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema in a contest that has been too close to call for weeks. While Zambia's beleaguered economy and surging debt ...
Kenya’s Dream to Build a Modern Railway Is Turning Into an Economic Nightmare
Many Kenyans were excited about plans to build a modern railway across the country linking the port city of Mombasa and Malaba town on the Kenya-Uganda border. It was touted as a game-changer; the key to unlocking not just Kenya’s economic takeoff, but that of the entire ...
Temporary Closure of China’s Ningbo Port Will Only Add to African Traders’ Headaches
Container ships are stacking up off the coast of eastern China today after authorities closed the massive Ningbo-Zhoushan port following the confirmation that several employees there tested positive for COVID-19. 28 vessels were idling ...
New Details on Rwanda’s Huge Dried Chili Deal With China
More information is emerging about the pioneering deal announced last week to open the Chinese market to Rwandan dried chili exporters. Rwandan agribusiness entrepreneur Dieudonné ‘Diego’ Twahirwa (photo) signed a contract with the food importer Chinese GK International Enterprises to ...
The Growing Demand for Chinese Second-Hand Clothing in Africa
Every year, Chinese consumers discard 26 million tons of used clothing. Much of it goes into landfills, some is incinerated and others are finding their way into developing markets like Africa, where shirts emblazoned with Chinese characters are apparently becoming more fashionable.
Chinese Rail Operator to Kenya Railways: Settle Your Debts First and Then We’ll Hand Over Control of the SGR
Afristar, a subsidiary of the state-run China Road and Bridge Corporation, informed Kenya Railways that if it wants the May 2022 handover of the Mombasa to Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway to be completed on time, it'll first have to pay off its debts, according ...
A Lot of Kenyans May Want to Ban Imported Fish From China, But That Just Can’t Happen For Now
The recent proposal in Kenya's National Assembly to ban imported fish from China has sparked a lively discussion about how to simultaneously enhance the country's food security while bolstering the livelihoods of Kenya's embattled fishing communities. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya ...
China’s Control of Strategic Resources in Places Like the DRC is Becoming a Right-Wing Media Meme in the U.S.
Conservative media outlets in the United States are using China's dominance in key strategic resource markets, particularly materials used to manufacture EV batteries, as a new vector in their partisan battle against efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Former Trump administration official ...