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Africa’s Embrace of Chinese Drones Signals New Economic Opportunities

African countries are increasingly adopting Chinese drone technology, a move that highlights both the potential of drones as a future economic growth driver and China's expanding role in the sector. Rwanda and Senegal, for example, recently signed an air transport agreement to expand cross-border routes and strengthen ...

Training Africa’s EV Technicians: How Kenya is Preparing For E-Mobility Future

As electric vehicles (EVs) become more common on roads in African countries, the need for reliable service is also growing with forward thinkers already positioning themselves for the opportunity the e-mobility shift offers. In this ...

China’s Defense Minister Lays Out Security Priorities

China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun laid out the country’s defense priorities in his opening speech at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. About 1,800 representatives from more than 100 countries attended the annual defense gathering. Dong met with defense heads from Malaysia, Cambodia, ...

China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Kenya’s Quiet EV Rise, Rwanda’s Flying Taxi, and China’s Car Boom in Nigeria

This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. Across Africa, the electric vehicle (EV) market is as diverse as its geography and tariff jurisdictions; ...

On Chinese Social Media, Rwanda’s Army Looks Strikingly Like the PLA

On Chinese social media, a Bilibili video has left netizens marveling at how much Rwanda’s army has come to resemble the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The edit splices together clips of Rwandan infantry drills, martial art practices, parades, and even the hand gestures of their instructors. ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Pain of Un-Polarity

“THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
This post by U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week may end up leaving a more lasting mark than the actual summit he attended.

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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.

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.

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