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Africa’s EV Trade Siege and What’s Blocking the Future

The electric vehicle (EV) sector in many African countries faces critical challenges, slowing down the adoption of electric mobility. Some of these challenges are intra-African trade barriers, which make it hard to do cross-border trade. ...

How Chinese Takeout Bags Became Africa’s Street-Style Hit

Chinese social media spotted a quirky trend in African cities like Nairobi. Sturdy, brightly printed Chinese takeout bags, the kind you get from a hotpot chain or milk tea shop, are showing up everywhere. These are not souvenirs from China. They sell for over a dollar ...

China Urges Rwanda to Heed Calls to End Support for M23

The UN peacekeeping force in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has warned of the risk of ethnically motivated attacks as conditions deteriorate in the region, haunted by the legacy of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and its aftermath. The warning came as ...

FOCAC Should Focus on Promoting Green Energy Projects: Standard Bank

Energy issues are widely expected to be very high on the agenda at the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit that gets underway on September 4th in Beijing. Most African countries are facing chronic power shortages that are increasingly exacerbated by ...

Chinese EV Tech in Kenya’s Mass Transport: The BasiGo Story

In 2022, BasiGo, an early-stage e-mobility start-up, imported two electric buses from BYD, a Chinese conglomerate and the world’s largest EV company. The plan was to address the mass transport needs by providing these buses to enable the country’s shift to clean transport. The idea was to study the BYD technology and then replicate it in Kenya by locally assembling bus parts sourced from the giant Chinese EV manufacturer.

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Plugging into African Agency

After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.

These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still lack ...

Rwandan Singers Strike a Chord on Chinese Social Media

A young Rwandan man and his group of compatriot singers have gone viral in China with short videos showing them performing well-known songs in near-perfect Mandarin. The group, led by Pacifique Izabayo, who goes by the online name Bobo, performs ...

Investor Promoting Chinese-Engineered ‘Magic Grass’ in Kenya

A plantation of Juncao contributes to air purification and reduces soil degradation. The waste products from Juncao are useful including the dry leaves which are converted into briquettes to replace firewood.

Chinese Party-to-Party Diplomacy in Rwanda

Wellars Gasamagera, the Secretary-General of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front party met with Wang Huning, one of Xi Jinping’s key political advisors and a senior member of the Communist Party of China. Wang is currently a member of ...

Chinese EV Giant BYD Launches in Rwanda

BYD, the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, is continuing its expansion in Africa when it launches soon in Rwanda. The company made the announcement on X last week but did not provide specific details as to when sales will begin and ...

Rwanda’s New Chinese-Funded, Built Hydropower Plant Progresses Amid Mounting Concerns Over Drought

A Chinese state-owned engineering and construction company successfully completed river closure last week marking the start of the main building phase of the $214 million Nyabarongo II Multipurpose Project in Rwanda. In the country’s quest for more renewable energy to ...

China’s Long Shadow Over the U.S.-Africa Summit

The three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit wrapped up in Washington, D.C. on Thursday with a declaration by President Joe Biden that his administration is "all in" when it comes to Africa.  The White House worked very ...

Djibouti Suspends Debt Payments While Rwanda Gets (Just a Little) Relief From China

🇩🇯 DJIBOUTI: The government reportedly suspended debt repayments to two of its largest creditors, likely China and Kuwait, in response to a dramatic increase in the country's debt servicing costs in 2022, according to a new World Bank report. (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)
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