Related Posts

Japan Revives Nacala Corridor in Africa as It Seeks to Cut China Out of Mineral Supply Chains

A much more subdued Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) wrapped up in Yokohama on Friday, which lacked many of the big check pledges of previous TICAD gatherings and instead focused on fostering trade ties between Japan and Africa. In his ...

El Niño Triggers Food Crisis in Southern Africa

The brutal drought has been brought on primarily by El Niño. This natural, recurring weather phenomenon raises surface temperatures across parts of the Pacific Ocean. These warmer patches impact weather patterns globally, including by lowering rain levels in Southern Africa.

Illegal Chinese Timber Trade Fuels Insurgency in Mozambique

Officially, Mozambique bans the export of raw timber in an effort to protect what's left of the country's rapidly shrinking forests. But whatever laws are in place are largely disregarded as more than 500,000 tons of timber leave the country each ...

A Chinese-Backed Solar Project in Lesotho Highlights Beijing’s New “Small is Beautiful” Infrastructure Development Strategy in Africa

Some 71 kilometers south of Lesotho’s capital Maseru, the new Mafeteng Solar Power Plant Project generates some 30MW of electricity that could easily power 30,000 homes running household appliances like a fridge, a TV, an electric cooker and a number of lights while also supporting some ...

Zimbabwe Pushing Chinese Steel Giant’s Plans to Exclusively Import Electricity From Mozambique

Chinese giant Tsingshang’s Zimbabwe subsidiary, Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco), will start importing electricity from Mozambique’s Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric power project once complete. This follows a plan, supported by the Zimbabwean government, to have Disco exclusively import power for the ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Revealing Reactions to China’s Festival of Optics

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 ...

The Stereotypes Are Untrue – Africans Are Not Lazy, Greedy, or Deceitful

Mainstream Chinese perceptions of Africa and Africans are largely very rudimentary, even crude in some instances. In fact, many of the caricatures that are now widely seen in Chinese media are reminiscent of the blatant racism that was prevalent in 20th-century Western movies and television shows that ...

China’s Overseas Fishing Fleet and the Global South

by Chris Alden and Sérgio Chichava While much of the Western attention is focused on the grey zone activities pursued by Chinese fishing fleets and their purported role in the strategic expansion of China’s interests in the South China Sea, less ...

Even Though More Countries Have Received Chinese Vaccines, Distribution Remains Highly Unequal

There does not appear to be any pattern to the inconsistent distribution of Chinese vaccines in Africa over the past 12 months. For much of the year, North African countries accounted for the bulk of deliveries, but that started to change as deliveries increased to southern African ...

Report: China to Provide Enough Vaccines For All Unvaccinated Soldiers in the South African Military

The Chinese government is purportedly donating 300,000 doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to cover any remaining members of the force who aren't fully vaccinated. But the use of Sinovac vaccines in South Africa ...

Huawei’s Training Session in Mozambique Highlights Three Important Trends

China's ambassador to Mozambique, Wang Hejun, personally handed out certificates of completion on Monday to dozens of local government officials who finished a technology training course led by tech giant Huawei. This particular program was unexceptional in that it's just one ...

China’s Love-Hate Relationship With Coal

If you're confused about China's stance on the use of coal, well, you're definitely not alone. This week, China went on a global coal buying binge in a frantic effort to put a stop to rolling ...

African Coal Exporters Benefitting From China’s Ongoing Electricity Crisis

China is scouring the globe for new sources of coal in an effort to stem the blackouts that have afflicted millions of residents and businesses in at least nine provinces over the past several weeks. While the ongoing crisis is now threatening China's post-pandemic ...
Page 1 of 3123