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Category: Timber

Chinese Demand for Illegal Rosewood Leads to Deforestation in Cameroon

Cameroon is just one of a growing number of African countries that is facing a deforestation crisis due in part to the trade in illegal Rosewood. Large organized crime syndicates are felling vast numbers of these prized trees, smuggling them across ...

“Fishermen Are Suffering, Families Are Starving” Due to Illegal Overfishing by Chinese Trawlers in Sierra Leone, Says Report

Illegal overfishing by Chinese trawlers in Ghana's coastal waters has been well documented, but now stakeholders in other West African countries including Sierra Leone are sounding the alarm. “The Chinese fleet has been taking the profits of the fisheries for 30 ...

Biden-Tshisekedi Meet on Sidelines of G20

DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi met one-on-one with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, on Friday in the run-up to the G20 summit that took place over the weekend in Rome.  There's been a lot of interest in recent months 

Q&A: How Illegal Chinese Logging Fuels the Islamic Insurgency in Mozambique

This Spring’s crackdown on illegal mining activities in Ghana, including by some Chinese nationals, and the recent high-profile incidents of illicit mining by Chinese companies in the eastern DR Congo have put a spotlight on the issue of unregulated Chinese resource extraction in other ...

The Global Marketplace Versus the Global South

This week The Guardian carried two articles about China’s growing influence in the Pacific Island region. The first, under the headline “Pacific Plunder,” highlights how China imports more wood, fish, and minerals from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and elsewhere than any other major ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

India Could Ban Cheap Chinese Phones

The Indian government could push Chinese mobile phone manufacturers out of the lower end of its market, according to a new report by Bloomberg. The possible ban is reportedly aimed at boosting India’s failing domestic phone makers in the lucrative sub-12,000 rupee ($150) sector. 

The move will be a blow to Chinese companies like Xiaomi, RealMe, and Transsion, who make up 80% of sales in the sub-$150 sector. Low-end smartphones occupy a third ...

25 “Massive” Illegal Chinese Gold Mines Discovered in a Remote Region of Sierra Leone

A group of unknown Chinese entities has reportedly been operating a large-scale illegal gold mining operation in one of the poorest and most remote regions of eastern Sierra Leone, according to an investigative report published in Sunday's edition of the Sierra Leone Telegraph newspaper. ...

A Zambian Ambassador Issues Forceful Denial That Senior Lusaka Leaders Involved in Illegal Timber Racket

Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Emmanuel Mwamba, published a scathing rebuttal to allegations made by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency that accused senior government leaders of running a "cartel" to illegally harvest and export endangered mukula timber, largely to China.

Investigation: High-Level Corruption in Zambia Fuels Illegal Timber Trade with China

The Environmental Investigation Agency published a damning report last week that alleged Zambian President Edgar Lungu, his daughter and several high-ranking ministers are all allegedly involved in the illicit trade of rare mukula wood. Mukula is a rare African tree and one of the rosewood species protected under ...

Gabon Takes Action Against Chinese Logging Company Following Damning Report

The Gabon government has suspended the logging license at two sites run by a large, privately-owned Chinese logging company that allegedly engaged in widespread illegal activities, according to a report by Agence France Presse. The Dejia Group was singled out last month in ...

How China's Insatiable Demand for Timber Threatens Congo's Rain Forests

A series of powerful forces, continents away from one another, are conspiring to devastate the vast rain forests that blanket the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are trees in those forests whose wood is particularly celebrated in China for its color and durability. With ...
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