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

China’s New Line on Ghana Debt: We Own Less Than 5%, so Why Are You Talking to Us?

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning addressed Ghana's appeal for debt relief at the Ministry's regular press briefing in Beijing on March 2, 2023. Image via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Even though talks between Chinese creditors and the Ghanaian government are now underway in Accra to restructure the country’s $1.7 billion of bilateral debt, a narrative that Beijing is delaying the process is taking hold ...
by Eric Olander

Stand-off Between China and Western Creditors Leading to Unprecedented Delays In Debt Relief for Poor Countries

Just ten years ago, it usually took less than two months for a debt-distressed country to get a sign-off from the International Monetary Fund for emergency financial relief, but that is no longer ...
by Eric Olander

A Call for the African Union to Break the Global South Debt Impasse

Gyude Moore is a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C.
Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, is among a small group of Washington, D.C.-based analysts trying to devise practical solutions for how developing countries can unblock the ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Foreign Ministry Releases Details of Qin Gang’s G20 Meetings With Other Foreign Ministers

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang held bilateral meetings with counterparts from India, Saudi Arabia, Holland, Australia and Germany among others on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in New Delhi last week. Images via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
While stark differences over the war in Ukraine made it impossible for G20 foreign ministers to reach a consensus at last week’s meeting in New Delhi, China’s Qin Gang nonetheless took advantage of ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Apple’s Chinese Suppliers Reportedly Moving Production out of the Country at a Much Faster Rate Than Forecast

Hector RETAMAL / AFP
Apple’s Chinese suppliers are reportedly moving production out of the country at a much faster rate than previously forecast, according to one of the company’s largest partners. AirPods maker GoerTek Inc. said it is ...
by Eric Olander

Uganda is the Latest Stop for High-Level CPC Delegation Touring East Africa

Li Mingxiang, vice minister for the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist party of China, held talks in Kampala with leaders of Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement party on March 1, 2023. Image via @NRMOnline.
While U.S. lawmakers see themselves in an “existential struggle” with the Communist Party of China (CPC), Party officials are getting a considerably warmer reception in Africa. Li Mingxiang, the Vice Minister of the International ...
by Cobus van Staden

Ghana President Hopeful for IMF Deal in March

Ghana's Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta (center left) and Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey met with representatives from the China Exim Bank in Accra on March 1, 2023. Image via @AyorkorBotchwey.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo is optimistic that the debt-ridden country will reach a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund by the end of the month. Speaking at a gathering of ambassadors and ...
by Cobus van Staden

Kenyan Merchants and Consumers Face Off Over Chinese Imports

Kenyan traders are pushed back by approaching police officers outside parliament in Nairobi on February 28, 2023 during a protest over what they claim are unfair business advantages for Chinese merchants. Tony KARUMBA / AFP
Kenyan traders staged a street protest against Chinese competitors they say are undercutting them. This follows the targeting of China Square by Trade Secretary Moses Kuria. The popular new Chinese-run store offers imported products ...
by Cobus van Staden

India to Build Massive Hydropower Plant Near Contested Border With China

The Indian government will build a $3.9 billion hydroelectric power plant in Arunachal Pradesh, very close to the country’s disputed border with China known as the Line of Actual Control. Environmentalists are condemning ...
by Eric Olander

China Denies Ethiopian Media Report It’s Providing Addis Ababa With “Alternative Means” of Debt Relief

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning speaking to reporters on Tuesday at the regular press briefing in Beijing. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs flatly denied a report published in the English-language Ethiopian news site The Reporter that “China agreed to restructure Ethiopia’s debt through alternative means.” Ethiopia is the second-largest ...
by Eric Olander

China’s “Malign Influence” in Global South Emerges as Key Theme in U.S. House Hearings

Witnesses sworn in before the first hearing on national security and Chinese threats to America held by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 28, 2023. ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP
The new Republican leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives convened a pair of hearings on China Tuesday that laid out a lengthy list of concerns and grievances about Beijing’s “malign influence” around ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Sci-Fi Blockbuster Wandering Earth 2 to Open in Southern Africa

The Chinese movie hit “Wandering Earth 2” will open next week in four southern African countries beginning with South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe on March 10th, followed by Zambia the week after. The science ...
by Eric Olander

IMF Head Flatly Rejects China’s Call for Multilateral Development Banks to Take Losses on Loans: “Not Possible”

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva spoke with Bloomberg TV following last weekend's debt roundtable at the G20 finance minister and central bank leaders meeting in India. Image via Bloomberg.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva flatly rejected China’s demand for multilateral development banks (MDBs) to accept losses or “haircuts” for loans to the world’s poorest countries. “Not possible” she bluntly ...
by Cobus van Staden

Germany’s Ambassador to Ghana Explains Why He Thinks China is Hesitating to Set Up a Creditor Committee

German ambassador to Ghana Daniel Krull at a press conference in Accra. Image via GhanaWeb.
The German government is advocating on behalf of Ghana for China to stop stalling in the creation of a new Creditor Committee that will restructure Accra’s debts. Last week, Ghana officially became the second ...
by Cobus van Staden

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The G20 Summit and the Half-Life of a Joke

When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...

With an Eye on China and Russia, Macron (Again) Tries to Reboot France’s Strategy in Africa

President Emmanuel Macron outlined France's revamped strategy for Africa during a speech at the Elysee Palace in Paris on February 27, 2023. Stefano Rellandini / POOL / AFP
France needs to approach Africa with ‘profound humility’ to make up for its colonial past. This is the message from French President Emmanuel Macron, who is embarking on an African tour in part aimed ...
by Cobus van Staden

Top Chinese Communist Party Official Visits Ruling Party Leaders in Kenya, Tanzania

Deputy Minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the CPC Central Committee Li Mingxiang met with ruling party officials in both Kenya and Tanzania this week.
In-person party-to-party exchanges between Communist Party of China (CPC) officials and African counterparts are ramping up again. Li Mingxiang, the Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, recently visited 
by Cobus van Staden

Kenya’s Ambassador to China Leaves Unexpectedly

Wu Peng is China's top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Kenya’s outgoing ambassador to China, Mary Muthoni, is leaving her post after only ten months on the job, far less than her predecessor, who spent three years in Beijing. The Ministry of Foreign ...
by Cobus van Staden

U.S. Discussed Debt Issues With China While Also Hinting Beijing Uses Loans for “Coercive Leverage” in South Asia

United States' Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen addressed the media during a news conference at the G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies in Bengaluru on February 23, 2023. Manjunath KIRAN / AFP
There was a hint of optimism going into Saturday’s debt roundtable organized by India, the World Bank and the IMF that the U.S. and China might be able to find some common ground. ...
by Eric Olander

Xinhua: The U.S. Deliberately Distorts Chinas’s Role in the African Debt Crisis

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: Three Truths About Africa's Debt That the U.S. Deliberately Distorts
The burgeoning debt crisis in a growing number of African countries is increasingly seen by the Chinese government as another front in Beijing’s competition with Western powers like the U.S. A recent article ...
by Eric Olander

When it Comes to the Global South Debt Crisis, the Chinese Message is Clear: Don’t Talk About China, Just Focus on the West

HEADLINE LINE TRANSLATION: On the eve of global debt conference, the West is speculating again about "China Debt Traps" again, experts explain
Chinese scholars and U.S. and European officials seem to follow the same playbook on debt. Both sides are highly selective in their assessment of the worsening debt crisis in developing countries by focusing ...
by Eric Olander

Gyude Moore: Future of Global Development Finance System at Risk if China Wins Stand-off With IMF, World Bank

OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP
If China is successful in its effort to force multilateral development banks (MDB) like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to accept the same kind of writedowns (known as ‘haircuts’) on ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Tanzania Approves Construction of New Controversial $3.5 Billion Sino-French East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has dismissed concerns about human rights and environmental damage expressed by the European Parliament relating to the new East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). BADRU KATUMBA / AFP
The Tanzanian government approved the construction of a new $3.5 billion pipeline as part of the controversial Sino-French East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The 1,443km pipeline will transport crude from new oil ...
by Eric Olander

Pentagon Not Happy About South African Naval Exercises But Won’t Admit It Publicly

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh speaks during an on-camera press briefing at the Pentagon on February 22, 2023. Image via the United States Departemnt of Defense.
The United States military is staying largely quiet over the ongoing joint naval exercises in South Africa that include Russia and China. Earlier, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Chidi ...
by Cobus van Staden

Major Powers Express Ambivalence Going Into This Weekend’s Critical G20 Debt Relief Talks in Bangalore

The main conference center for the G20's finance minister and central bank leaders conference that will be held over the weekend. Handout / PIB / AFP
As major powers head into this week’s G20 talks on debt restructuring, the mood is grim. The outcome of the talks will be decisive for Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process and ...
by Cobus van Staden

Sharply Contrasting Views on Whether China is Right to Demand Multilateral Development Banks to Take Losses on Their Loans

Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
The dispute between China and Western lenders about how Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) should take part in debt restructuring goes beyond current U.S.-China tensions. Rather, it relates to the fundamental question of how ...
by Cobus van Staden

DR Congo Buys Nine Chinese Attack Drones for Use in War Against M23 Rebels

The Congolese military is hoping that Chinese-made CH-4 attack drones like this one will help in the fight against rebeles in the eastern DRC. Image via Xinhua.
The Congolese government is stepping up the fight against M23 rebels with the purchase of nine Chinese CH-4 attack drones, according to a report in Africa Intelligence. The first batch of ...
by Cobus van Staden

What is Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative? New Government Document Gives Clues

Copies of the Chinese government's new concept paper on the Global Security Initiative
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Global Security Initiative in 2022, but since then, the initiative has raised more questions than answers. Now, a new concept paper has been put out by the ...
by Cobus van Staden

Sri Lanka President to Meet With Chinese Finance Minister in Bid to Unblock Debt Relief

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will personally try to persuade China to match Colombo's other creditors as part of a debt restructuring deal. Mohammed ABED / AFP
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will meet with Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun on Friday for what’s been described as “a last-ditch effort” to get Beijing to align with Colombo’s other creditors ...
by Eric Olander

Ghana’s Finance Minister Will Go to Beijing This Week Seeking Debt Relief

Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta will go to Beijing this week to try and re-negotiate $1.7 billion of outstanding debt to China. SAUL LOEB / AFP
Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta will head to Beijing on Friday in a bid to re-negotiate Accra’s $1.7 billion debt owed to Chinese creditors. The West African country has
by Eric Olander

South Africa’s Decrepit Railway Infrastructure is Slowing Iron Ore Shipments to China

More than a million tons of South African iron ore is blocked from leaving the country, mostly bound for China, due to SA’s failing railway infrastructure. The local unit of ...
by Eric Olander
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