In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...
Category: Finance
Crude Deals or Clever Design? Unpacking China’s Resource-Backed Finance in Africa
It is not every day that a highway is paid for with barrels of oil. Yet in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, that is exactly how some of the region’s largest infrastructure projects are being financed. Instead of tapping their treasuries or issuing sovereign bonds, governments are ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Bank Boosts African Trade Hub
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank opened its first account to handle cross-border settlements for an African consulate. The bank’s branch in Changsha opened the account for the Malawian consulate in Hunan Province. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? The Chinese government has designated Hunan as ...
China Quantifies Climate Funding as Solidarity With African Negotiators Strengthens
On the second day of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said that Beijing has already mobilized about $24.5 billion to help address climate change in developing countries while also hinting at more ambitious targets at home to achieve “carbon neutrality" before 2060. ...
In-Depth: China’s Finance for African Renewables Rebounds After Two-Year Lull
By Anika Patel New data reveals a rebound in Chinese financing of renewable energy projects in Africa in 2023, following a lull over the past few years.
China Isn’t Spending Anywhere Near as Much on Aid to Pacific Island Countries as Many Think
New research reveals that Chinese aid spending in Pacific Island Countries (PIC) is now at the lowest level in 14 years, challenging the widely held perception that Beijing is showering the region with money in a bid to boost its influence. ...
Lai Mohammed: Even Without Chinese Financing, Nigeria Won’t Give Up Building New Railways
It's beginning to settle in among Nigeria's governing class that once abundant Chinese railway financing is no more. Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi was the first to acknowledge the new reality earlier this month when he told the Guardian newspaper (Nigeria) that the country's future railway ...
Kenya Weighs Using SDR Allocation From IMF to Pay Debts to China
The Kenyan government is considering using its allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from the International Monetary Fund to repay some of its outstanding debts to China, according to a report in the Business Daily newspaper. While at ...
Week in Review: Human Rights, Contracts and Finance
China is turning to governments in Tanzania, South Sudan, and other Global South countries to fend off international criticism over its human rights policies in Xinjiang. The treatment of Uyghur Muslims was the main focus this week at the UN Human Rights Council after