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The News Feed is curated by CGSP’s editors in Asia and Africa.

Loan Revelations Spark New Confusion Over Whether Kenya’s Port of Mombasa Can Be Seized by China

There is renewed anxiety in Kenya over whether the Port the Mombasa is at risk of being seized by Chinese creditors in the event that the government fails to repay the loan for ...
by Eric Olander

Even Amid Debt Crisis, Kenya Still Wants to Extend SGR to Ugandan Border

The new Kenyan government says it hopes to extend the Chinese-built SGR to from the Rift Valley all the way to the border with Uganda.
The burgeoning fiscal crisis in Kenya is not dampening the government’s ambition to extend the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway from the Naivasha in the Rift Valley all the way to Kisumu near the ...
by Eric Olander

Huawei Eyes Expansion in the DR Congo

Executives from Chinese telecom giant Huawei met recently in Kinshasa with DR Congo Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde.
A delegation of senior executives from Huawei’s Africa division met on Friday with Congolese Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde at his office in Kinshasa to discuss “the DRC’s digital development.” No other details about ...
by Eric Olander

Why Sharif’s Recent Visit to Pakistan Wasn’t as Successful as Many Think

Chinese President Xi Jinping posing with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Image via Xinhua.
Dear Eric and Cobus, Because I know you all care deeply about this topic, I thought I’d share my take on the Pakistan-China relationship and what came out of PM Sharif’s recent Beijing ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Canada To Become Newest Member of the U.S.-Led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)

US President Joe Biden (2R) and France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) share a light moment as President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (L) and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau follow on before the family photo at the start of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall on June 11, 2021. Ludovic MARIN / AFP
Canada will become the newest member of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a loose group of Asia-Pacific countries ostensibly aimed at countering China. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the move is part of ...
by Eric Olander

Tanzania President Suluhu Lands in Beijing, Next Up to Meet With Xi

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is received in Beijing by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a two-day visit that includes meetings with Prime Minister Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping. President Hassan is the first African leader to ...
by Eric Olander

As More Manufacturers Look to Exit China, Many May End Up in Mexico

Disruptions brought on by China’s draconian COVID Zero crackdowns, rising wages, and stricter environmental controls are all contributing to an exodus of manufacturers. While many are heading to Vietnam and other Southeast Asian ...
by Eric Olander

China is Happy About Lula’s Win in Brazil, Despite Criticism

Newspapers reporting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential victory. Image: AFP
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s return to power could rejuvenate the relationship between Brazil and China and help to speed up the reform of the global order. So says Zhou ...
by Cobus van Staden

China Harbour Completes Construction of West Africa’s Largest Deep Water Port in Nigeria

The Lekki Deep Sea Port in Nigeria's Lagos State will be the largest port facility in West Africa.
The state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company completed construction of the $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Sea Port near Lagos and officially handed over the facility to its Nigerian partners. Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, ...
by Eric Olander

South Africa’s Naspers Denies Rumors It Plans to Dump Tencent Shares

South Africa-based investment company Naspers is the largest shareholder of Chinese technology behemoth Tencent. JADE GAO / AFP
South African tech investment firm Naspers denied rumors that it is in talks with the Chinese state-owned investment company CITIC to sell its $70 billion stake in the Chinese tech behemoth ...
by Eric Olander

China-Africa Trade via Hunan Province is Booming

File image from the second China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, Hunan province, in September 2021. Image via Xinhua.
Customs authorities in Changsha, the capital of China’s southern Hunan province, reported $2.6 billion in two-way trade between the city and African countries in the first three quarters of the year. ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Automakers Look to Developing Countries to Boost Sales and Production

SUVs made by the Chinese automaker Chery are among the best selling in South Africa. Image via Chery South Africa.
The war in Ukraine opened new production opportunities for Chinese automakers in Central Asia, while growing demand in Latin America and South Asia for SUVs and EVs has sparked a new sales push ...
by Eric Olander

Lula’s Victory Expected to Boost China-Brazil Ties

Newspapers reporting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential victory. Image: AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping was quick to send his congratulations on Monday to Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on his re-election as president of Brazil. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing was equally ...
by Eric Olander

China Isn’t Spending Anywhere Near as Much on Aid to Pacific Island Countries as Many Think

The Lowy Institute's Pacific Island Aid Map showcasing Chinese development assistance in the region.
New research reveals that Chinese aid spending in Pacific Island Countries (PIC) is now at the lowest level in 14 years, challenging the widely held perception that Beijing is showering ...
by Eric Olander

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 Cost to Build An EV Battery is Going Up… A Lot

This chart explains in part why Chinese battery giants are moving as fast as possible to lock up supplies of the key ingredients needed to manufacture lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles. ...
by Eric Olander

Reports: Xi Expected to Travel to Saudi Arabia for December Summits

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan for the fourth meeting of the political and diplomatic sub-committee under the China-Saudi Arabia high-level joint committee. Image via the Saudi Press Agency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will reportedly travel to Saudi Arabia in December to attend a trio of Sino-Arab summits taking place in the Kingdom. The latest rumors about President Xi’s purported trip surfaced late last ...
by Eric Olander

China-based Development Bank to Ramp Up Lending by $10 Billion a Year

The headquarters of the Chinese-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing. Image via Xinhua.
While China’s two major policy banks have pulled hard on the reins to curtail development financing in the Global South, the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is going in the opposite direction. AIIB’s ...
by Eric Olander

Two New Huawei-Powered 5G Networks Launch in Africa

NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP
Chinese telecom giant Huawei may be encountering severe headwinds in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia but not so in Africa, where the company launched two new 5G networks in just the ...
by Eric Olander

How Does Local Agency Fit into Africa-China Negotiations?

The CORA panel discussing local agency in Africa-China negotiations.
In the first of a three-webinar series, the Le Collectif pour le Renouveau Africain (CORA) brought together a group of leading African analysts and scholars to discuss local agency in Africa-China negotiations. The panelists ...
by Christopher Edyegu

WEEK IN REVIEW: A Military Stand-off Between a Chinese-Run Mining Company and the DRC’s State-Owned Mining Giant Gécamines Heading to Arbitration

A military stand-off between a Chinese-run mining company and the DRC’s state-owned mining giant Gécamines is heading to arbitration.  Congolese army forces took control of two of the Australian-based, Chinese-controlled company MMG’s mines in ...
by Eric Olander

Kenyan Avocado Exports to China Gather Speed

Chinese customs officials in Guangzhou inspect a newly-arrived shipment of Kenyan avocados. Image via the Guangzhou Media Center.
A 24-ton shipment of Kenyan avocados arrived in China’s Guangzhou harbor this week. It took years for Kenyan producers to clear import protocols, but the shipment shows that China is finally moving forward with ...
by Cobus van Staden

U.S. Plans to Bypass China’s Cobalt Dominance with Arizona Plant

FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP
The Singapore-based commodities trader Trafigura announced it will partner with the U.S. battery metals processing firm EVelution to build a battery-grade cobalt sulfate processing facility in Arizona.  The facility is projected to produce 7,000 tons of ...
by Cobus van Staden

Taiwanese Troops to Serve in Somaliland

John Rosenberg is a U.S.-Africa government relations and national security specialist in Washington.
For the first time, the disputed African region of Somaliland will be included in 14 countries and territories that will host Taiwanese soldiers as part of an alternative directive that allows them to ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s Messaging to Africa on Xinjiang in Action

Image via Mohamed Osman's Twitter feed
The meeting this week between a group of African journalists and Wu Peng, China’s top diplomat to Africa, became an example of how Chinese government officials use direct engagement with reporters as a messaging ...
by Cobus van Staden

It Worked For Nickel, So Why Not Tin? Indonesia Wants to Move Up the Value Chain by Blocking Exports of Raw Commodities

Aerial view of the Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry nickel smelting facility in Konawe. Indonesia banned the export of raw nickel and now wants to do the same for tin. ANDRY DENISAH / AFP
The Indonesian government plans to add tin bars to the growing list of commodities that it will ban for export as part of an ambitious effort to have more of these ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Dream of Direct Access to the Indian Ocean is Finally Becoming a Reality in Myanmar

China has long regarded its dependence on transiting goods through the narrow Malacca Straits on the Malay peninsula as among its most serious national security vulnerabilities. In the event of a conflict with ...
by Eric Olander

These Charts Explain Why China is Cutting Back on Spending For BRI Projects

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent months about the sharp curtailment of Chinese spending for Belt and Road projects. New data released on Tuesday by the Ministry of ...
by Eric Olander

Why Kenya Will Struggle to Repay the Chinese Loans for its Standard Gauge Railway

The Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway depot in Nairobi. Simon Mania/AFP
Newly-elected Kenyan President William Ruto’s fulfillment of a campaign promise that reversed his predecessor’s mandate that cargo from the Port of Mombasa has to be transported via the Standard Gauge ...
by Eric Olander

Here We Go Again… More Blackface on Chinese Television

Scene from the Hong Kong drama series Come Home Love: Lo and Behold broadcast by TVB that featured actors wearing blackface. Image via TVB.
The Hong Kong-based television network TVB is facing criticism following this week’s broadcast of its popular drama series Come Home Love: Lo and Behold, which featured actors wearing blackface. The ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Lending Will Be Demand-Driven: Ambassador

Chinese ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian, during an interview with the Kenyan newspaper The Star at the Chinese embassy in Nairobi. Image via The Star.
China will not promote loan-supported projects to the Global South but will be led by recipient country demand. This was one of the takeaways from a recent interview with China’s ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian. ...
by Cobus van Staden
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