Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
China’s Cobalt Mining Giant in the DR Congo is in Trouble (Again)
The phone many of you are using to read this article and all those electric vehicles on the roads rely on cobalt, a strategically vital metal that comes from one of the saddest places on earth in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most consumers have ...
Kenya’s Embattled SGR Suffers Major Setback as Burundi, DRC Opt for Tanzania Route to Port of Dar es Salaam
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's longheld dream of extending his $4.9 billion Chinese-financed Standard Gauge Railway across East Africa suffered a major setback this week as both Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo both opted to go with Tanzania's SGR for direct access to the port ...
Most African States Quietly Take China’s Side in Xinjiang Battle at the United Nations
A duel erupted at the United Nations on Tuesday between rival factions who oppose and support China's treatment of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. On one side, the US, UK and most other Western countries renewed their criticism of China for committing well-documented human ...
China Jumps Back Into the Fight Against Ebola in Africa
The Chinese government is preparing to send medical personnel to South Sudan and Uganda in a bid to contain the spread of the Ebola virus that is currently ravaging parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since the Chinese ...
A Rare Insider's View of the China-Africa Minerals Trade
China-Africa trade rebounded in 2018 after several years of steady declines. Trade between the two regions last year increased by nearly 20% to $204 billion, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The bulk of Africa's exports to China is raw materials, namely oil ...
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 ...
IMF Missteps Over Huge China Deal in the DR Congo Proves Costly
In 2007 when China's Exim Bank unveiled a massive $6 billion mining deal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it completely rocked the normally-staid world of international development finance. The agreement, known as "The China Deal" or Sicomines, was among the first of ...
There Are a Lot More Chinese Soldiers in Africa Today… And Likely More to Come
Over the past five years the Chinese military presence in Africa has undergone a profound change. Until 2012, the Chinese were happy to play a low-key support role in multinational peacekeeping operations on the continent, preferring to send military engineers and medical staff rather ...
Flash of Anti-Chinese Xenophobia in the DR Congo
Anti-government protestors filled the streets of the DRC capital Kinshasa on January 19 and 20 to protest against a new election law making its way through the National Assembly. The new law calls for a national census before another presidential election is held which ...
China Foreign Minister to Africa: 'We're Not Building an Empire'
There is a custom in Chinese diplomacy that the Foreign Minister's first overseas trip of the year always begins in Africa. This year was no exception as Wang Yi led a high-profile tour of five African states including Kenya, Sudan, the DR Congo, ...