Country: South Africa
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What We’ve Lost in the Fire
This weekend was a rough one for South Africa. On Sunday, the country watched as fires around Table Mountain slowly started creeping downhill, towards the beautiful campus of the University of Cape Town (UCT). Soon it was confirmed that the university’s African Studies library, which housed a ...
With the J&J Jab Stalled in South Africa, EFF Party Leader Julius Malema Calls on Government to Approve Chinese, Russian Vaccines
One day after the South African government suspended the rollout of the U.S.-made Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine due to worries about blood clots, opposition leader and head of the Economic Freedom Fighters party Julius Malema called on the government to grant emergency approval ...
EIU Maps Out China’s Rapidly Expanding Digital Engagement in Africa
The Economist Intelligence Unit published a special report on China-Africa relations last month that includes a number of compelling visuals that showcase the breadth of Chinese engagement on the continent. In this instance, regarding China's digital footprint in ...
Deals, Deals & More Deals. China’s Tech Giants Expand in Africa & the Middle East
2021 has been a busy year so far for China's technology giants as they look to expand their international operations and appear to have their sites set on expanding in both the African and Arabian markets. JD, Didi, iQiyi, and Tencent ...
Unpacking African Agency
Today the South African Institute of International Affairs is holding a webinar featuring new work focusing on African agency in the face of Chinese power. How much power African actors have to shape their engagement with China is one of the field’s most ...
Tech Digest: With China’s Tech Giants Increasingly Shut Out of the EU & U.S., Africa Now Looks a Lot More Appealing
Oversaturation in China’s domestic tech market and a pandemic-fuelled cash crunch are driving Chinese firms to expand their African ventures. As 2021’s first quarter comes to a close, let’s take stock of the scoreboard: ...
The Pandemic and Geopolitics Have Created New Opportunities For South African Wines in China
Whilst COVID-19 disrupted trade flows across the globe and pushed industries into financial trouble, the South African wine sector has, somewhat remarkably, been spared. This is largely due to wine exports to China soaring by 50% after Beijing enforced a 212% tariff on Australian wines ...
Africa Benefitting From China’s Determination to Move Away From Australian Commodity Suppliers
China appears willing to pay higher financial and environmental costs if it means ending its dependence on Australian commodities including iron ore and coal. China has been steadily diversifying its sourcing of key commodities that it once depended on Australia to provide, even if new suppliers in ...
China Extends Pandemic Relief to Another Multilateral Organization
China donated a batch of medical supplies (not vaccines though) to the United Nations Economic Commission in Africa in what now appears to be part of a larger effort to provide critical pandemic relief to United Nations organizations and other multilateral institutions. ...
Why the Debt Trap Narrative Won’t Die Soon (or Ever)
Recent reports of the debt trap’s death might have been exaggerated. Like a vampire that just won’t die, we keep burying it, but it keeps rising from the coffin. This week we saw reports that Kenyan politicians had to clarify again that the Mombasa port itself ...
The Reality of Educational Soft Power
Last week was a bloody one in Johannesburg. Wits University, where I used to teach and where I’m currently an affiliate, has seen weeks of student protests. On Wednesday, a standoff turned violent. As the police opened fire with rubber bullets, a bystander stepped out of a ...
Two Fascinating Documentaries on How Chinese Money is Changing Africa
Free Documentary, the independent documentary film distributor, published a pair of very interesting programs on YouTube that explore how Chinese money is changing Africa. The two films were both produced by the South African production house Sabido Productions and do a very good job at representing both ...