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

Zambia’s New Finance Minister Says a Deal With the IMF is Key, Avoids Any Mention of Chinese Debt

Zambia’s newly-named finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said he’s going to prioritize closing a restructuring deal with the International Monetary Fund because it would give creditors confidence and the government cheaper and longer-term financing.
by Eric Olander

MSA Capital is the Chinese VC Firm to Watch When it Comes to Investing in African Start-Ups

Announcing yet another early-stage Africa-focused company being backed by the Beijing-based MSA Capital is becoming a monthly ritual. African mobile money start-up PawaPay is the latest to attract MSA Capital ...
by Eric Olander

The African Union Is the Latest International Organization to Receive COVID-19 Donations From China

The African Union Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Bankole Adeoye, took delivery late last week of a batch of 15,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated by the Chinese government. Chen Xufeng, the ...
by Eric Olander

Uganda Set to Receive More Chinese COVID Vaccines

Chinese ambassador Zhang Lizhong and Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo announced on Friday that China would provide a second shipment of 300,000 vaccines. It’s not clear from the announcement if the vaccines will ...
by Eric Olander

Week in Review: Doses, Detainees and Diplomacy

A worker at the Egypt’s Vacsera pharmaceutical plant preparing locally made Sinovac vaccines that were made available for distribution this week. Image via the Egypt Ministry of Health.
Interpol has canceled the red notice arrest warrant requested by China for Uyghur activist Yidiresi Aishan, who was detained in Morocco last month. The red notice flagging Aishan as a member of “terrorist” ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Mining Giant Denies Media Reports Its Mining Contracts in the DRC Are Under Investigation

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: U.S. Media said a Chinese mining company in the DRC was the target of an investigation (but) that's now been clarified
China Molybdenum Co. (aka China Moly), the world’s second-largest copper and cobalt mining company, has denied reports that its contracts for the massive Tenke Fungurume Mine (TFM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
by Eric Olander

China Plans to Ramp Up Digital Engagement in Africa

China's Assistant Foreign Minister Deng Li delivered the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of China-Africa Internet Development&Cooperation Forum held by Cyberspace Administration of China. Image via MOFA.
The Chinese government announced new plans this week to increase engagement in Africa’s tech sector by expanding partnerships in a number of areas including digital economy, smart cities, and 5G mobile communications.   “China will share ...
by Cliff Mboya

New Paper Calls For the Creation of a China-Africa Digital Currency Trading Hub

With cryptocurrencies becoming more popular around the world, China is now moving quickly to establish its own digital currency as a global standard, particularly in emerging markets like Africa where the mobile payment ...
by Eric Olander

Don’t Blame Cheap Chinese Imports For Destroying Nigeria’s Textile Industry: It’s Our Fault, Say Industry Leaders

Nigerian style apparel available for sale on the Chinese e-commerce platform Aliexpress.
Nigeria’s once-thriving textile sector is now fast disappearing due largely to competition from Chinese imports. But don’t blame the Chinese, said Mansur Ahmed, president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, ...
by Eric Olander

Fake… Pathetic… Losers… Liars… All in a Single Raging Chinese Diplomatic Tweet

The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe has proved yet again how easy it is to provoke them into a furious froth on Twitter. The embassy took aim at well-known Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono who re-tweeted 
by Eric Olander

African Oil Exports to China Plunge in July

China’s crude oil imports from Africa fell sharply last month with demand expected to remain flat through the third quarter. Overall, shipments from African exporting countries fell 5.1% from June and but plummeted ...
by Eric Olander

Ethiopia Moves to Restructure SOE Debt, No Word Though On China Loans

Ahmed Shide Minister of Finance signing an agreement to transfer the domestic liabilities of six State-Owned Enterprises that will be guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance. Image via the Ministry of Finance.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Finance (MOF) is bundling together the debts of six of its largest state-owned enterprises and will transfer the liability for these debts from the firms to the MOF itself. ...
by Eric Olander

China Begins to Distribute More Vaccines Beyond MENA to Sub-Saharan African Countries

China shipped 1.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries last week, with total deliveries across the continent now at 53.9 million, according to the latest Vaccine Tracker Report ...
by Eric Olander

WeChat Currency Scams Are Widespread Within the Chinese Expat Population in Africa

Last week we told you about how Chinese expatriates in Ghana were getting scammed by fraudsters posing as currency exchange dealers on WeChat. Now, victims of similar schemes from the Chinese ...
by Eric Olander

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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Ethiopia Seeks to Follow China’s Example By Creating Its Own Social Media Apps as Alternatives to Facebook and Twitter

Shumete Gizaw, director general of the Information Network Security Agency, is advocating for Ethiopia's new social media platforms to replace U.S. apps including Facebook, Twitter and Zoom.
China’s nationalist model of cyber sovereignty received another endorsement in Africa on Monday when Ethiopian officials unveiled new ambitions to “replace” U.S.-made social media and communications apps with local ...
by Eric Olander

Nigeria-Based, Chinese-Backed Mobile Money Platform OPay Raises $400 Million From Softbank-Led Round

The Nigeria-based, Chinese-owned mobile payment platform OPay closed its latest funding round with $400 million of new investment in a deal that values the company at an impressive $2 billion. This ...
by Eric Olander

Sino-Congolese Mining Venture Sicomines Launches Conveniently Timed Social Development Program

The Sino-Congolese mining company Sicomines held a signing ceremony on Saturday for one of its largest community development initiatives in the joint venture’s 14-year history. The company will spend almost $12 ...
by Eric Olander

Congolese Governor Orders Suspension of Six Chinese Mining Companies in South Kivu Over Environmental Violations

Théo Ngwabidje Kasi, governor of South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Théo Ngwabidje Kasi (photo), governor of South Kivu province in the Eastern DR Congo, ordered six  Chinese-owned mining companies to suspend operations in a bid to “restore order” after weeks of mounting tensions between the companies ...
by Eric Olander

Yet Another Social Media Video Revealing Tensions Between Chinese and Congolese Miners

In what’s becoming an increasingly frequent pattern, another video appeared online on Sunday showing a heated exchange between a Chinese and Congolese miner. The video that is now circulating widely on ...
by Eric Olander

Terrorists in Pakistan Again Target Chinese Nationals in What’s Become an Unprecedented Challenge For the Belt and Road

Residents perform a funeral prayer for a victim of a suicide attack that targeted Chinese nationals in the port city of Gwadar on August 20, 2021. AFP
Residents of the Pakistani port city of Gwadar gathered this weekend to mourn the death of two children killed on Friday by a suicide bomber who once again targeted Chinese ...
by Eric Olander

Reports of a Chinese “Black Site” in the UAE Used to Target Uyghurs Gaining Momentum in U.S. Media

GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP
The Washington Post picked up on a story today about an alleged Chinese “black site” in Dubai that was reportedly used to detain a young Chinese woman and at least two ...
by Eric Olander

China Slams Economist Report on Beijing’s Financing of New Fishing Port in Sierra Leone

The Chinese Foreign Ministry seemingly went out of its way on Friday to challenge an August 19th story published by The Economist that was critical of China’s plans to finance the ...
by Eric Olander

Barbados PM Pushes Back on BBC Journalist About China’s Growing Investments in the Caribbean

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley took exception to questions posed by BBC journalist Zeinab Badawi in a recent interview for the program Global Questions that the Caribbean country is at risk of becoming a ...
by Eric Olander

Week in Review: Crime, COVID and Cables

Connections points for the 37,000km Facebook-led 2Africa undersea cable. Image via 2Africa.
The Facebook-led 2Africa undersea data cable initiative announced that it will add three more countries to its list of landing sites across Africa. Seychelles, Comoros, and Angola will all be connected to the billion-dollar, ...
by Eric Olander

G7’s Global Infrastructure Initiative Will Have to Contend With China’s Massive Lead in Africa

The new $129 million international terminal in Zanzibar that was built and financed by China. The project was supposed to take 18 months to complete but instead required nine years.
The recent announcement of an initiative to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has generated a lot of debate among scholars and policyholders trying to understand its feasibility, particularly in Africa. What ...
by Cliff Mboya

China’s EV Battery Industry Headed in Two Seemingly Opposite Directions

The cobalt-free Blade lithium iron phosphate electric vehicle battery manufactured by BYD. Image via BYD.
Chinese chemicals manufacturer Jiangsu Lopal Tech announced a new joint venture with a Chinese fertiliser company to build a new factory to manufacture materials for use in lithium iron phosphate ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Ambassador to DRC Calls on Interior Minister To Personally Get Involved in the Search For Three Kidnapped Chinese Nationals

Chinese ambassador Zhu Jing meeting with DRC Interior and Security Minister Daniel Aselo Okito Koy. Image via the Chinese embassy in Kinshasa.
Chinese ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zhu Jing, called on Interior and Security Minister Daniel Aselo Okito Koy on Tuesday to personally intervene in the search for three ...
by Eric Olander

Up and Coming Leader in Namibia’s Ruling Party is Now Studying Political Science at Peking University

Oshikoto Swapo coordinator Armas Amukwiyu. Image via New Era.
Armas Amukwiyu, a rising star in Namibia’s ruling SWAPO party took some time off from his day job doing political organizing in the northern Oshikoto region to go to Beijing to study politics at China’s ...
by Eric Olander

Translation: Wu Jiangtao’s Lesson For Other Chinese Entrepreneurs in Africa

Zimbabwe-based shoe manufacturer Wu Jiangtao. Image via the African Research Group WeChat channel.
Editor’s Note: the following is a summary translation of an article posted on the African Research Group’s (微信公众号 非洲研究小组) WeChat channel. Minor edits and slight adjustments to the translation have been done to ...
by Eric Olander

Thierry Pairault on What China Really Wants From Africa

File image of China's President Xi Jinping (C) speaks as South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa (L) and Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (R) look on, during the Forum On China-Africa Cooperation - Round Table Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 4, 2018. Lintao Zhang / POOL / AFP
French media and scholars have long struggled to understand the nature of Chinese engagement in Africa, often framing the issue in the context of their own brutal colonial past on the continent. Much ...
by Eric Olander
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