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

Analysts: Chinese Consolidation in the Cobalt Sector Not Likely to Impact Prices

File image of the processing plant at China Molybdenum’s Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Chinese cobalt and copper mining giant China Molybdenum’s recently announced plans to invest $2.5 billion in its already massive Tenke Fungurume Mining (photo) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo prompted new concerns ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Vaccine Deliveries to Africa Slow to a Trickle

Chinese pharmaceutical companies shipped just 1.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the past week, part of a wider slowdown in recent weeks. In all, China has delivered 52 million jabs to 37 ...
by Eric Olander

TRANSLATION: Is It a Good Idea For Chinese Companies in Africa to Reply Primarily on Chinese Workers?

Jenny Vaughn/AFP
Few issues in the China-Africa relationship are as old or as contentious as that of labor. Accusations that Chinese companies prefer to hire their own unskilled laborers and then mistreat the local employees ...
by Eric Olander

Port Closures in China and Higher Yields in the U.S. Threaten to Batter Africa’s Fragile Economies

File image of cargo containers stacked at Yantian port in Shenzhen in China's southern Guangdong province. STR / AFP
Many of Africa’s already embattled economies are bracing for more pain as the rapidly spreading Delta variant provokes new disruptions to the global trading system and encourages bond ...
by Eric Olander

With an Eye on His Legacy, Kenya’s President Pressures Chinese Contractors to Finish Road Projects Before He Leaves Office

The $147 million Changamwe inter-change in Mombasa that is under construction by Chinese contractors.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is turning up the pressure on Chinese construction companies building three major infrastructure projects on the east coast to make sure they finish on schedule before the president leaves ...
by Eric Olander

China’s 500 Borehole Project Tapped Its Final Well in Zimbabwe

It took almost ten years to drill 500 boreholes in a China Aid-funded project to deliver badly-needed water to communities throughout Zimbabwe. The project drilled its final borehole in the southern Gwanda Township on ...
by Eric Olander

Karen Bass Doesn’t Like What China’s Doing in Africa But Says Americans Aren’t in Much of a Position to Criticize

Chinese engagement in Africa is an increasingly popular topic in Washington these days amid heightened expectations that the Biden administration is going to make the continent more of a U.S. foreign policy priority. ...
by Eric Olander

China Slams Vaccine Competition With West and Then Turns Around to Tell Everyone How It’s Outdoing the West

When China largely had the global vaccine market to itself, Beijing often rejected the idea that there is a competition over the distribution of COVID-19 jabs to developing countries. But now ...
by Eric Olander

The Story of One Man’s Journey From Hunan Province to Driving Trucks in the Republic of Congo

Tan Shunqing (right) moved from Hunan province in 2007 to drive trucks in the Republic of Congo capital Brazzaville.
Even though hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals now live in countries across Africa, very little is known about the personal stories of these individuals who’ve often taken significant risks to set up ...
by Eric Olander

Week in Review: Ore, Oil & Oranges

RODGER BOSCH / AFP
China’s major oil suppliers in Africa and the Middle East are bracing for a downturn in prices after Beijing ordered the country’s largest refiner, Sinopec, to scale back operations. Sinopec will reportedly reduce refining ...
by Eric Olander

Temporary Closure of China’s Ningbo Port Will Only Add to African Traders’ Headaches

File image of the Ningbo-Zhoushan port in eastern China. Image via Xinhua.
Container ships are stacking up off the coast of eastern China today after authorities closed the massive Ningbo-Zhoushan port following the confirmation that several employees there tested positive for COVID-19. ...
by Eric Olander

New Details on Rwanda’s Huge Dried Chili Deal With China

Rwandan Agricultural entrepreneur Dieudonné ‘Diego’ Twahirwa inspects a batch of dried chili peppers that will be exported to China. Image via New Times.
More information is emerging about the pioneering deal announced last week to open the Chinese market to Rwandan dried chili exporters. Rwandan agribusiness entrepreneur Dieudonné ‘Diego’ Twahirwa (photo) signed a contract with ...
by Eric Olander

A Kenyan MP Reflects On What Achieving Real “Win-Win” Ties With China Will Take

Gideon Keter is a Kenyan Member of Parliament representing youth.
With the triennial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit coming up next month in Dakar, there’s growing public discussion about how African stakeholders can achieve a more equitable arrangement with China. There’s a sense ...
by Eric Olander

Report: Human Rights Abuses Cloud China’s Investment Push in The Global South

Cover of a new report published on Tuesday by the London-based Business and Human Rights Resource Centre.
The steadily growing presence of Chinese companies in developing countries has been accompanied by an increase in social, environmental, and human rights violations that threaten Beijing’s ambitions to become a “responsible great power,”
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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Chinese Expats in Ghana Are Getting Lured Into Currency Exchange Scams on WeChat

AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO
Scammers in China are now targeting overseas Chinese in Ghana through currency exchange scams on WeChat. Swapping currencies on WeChat is a common practice for Chinese expatriates in Africa. Here’s how it works: ...
by Eric Olander

TRANSLATION: Nuclear Power Not a Viable Energy Option in Africa Say Trio of Chinese Experts

Image by Goos VEENENDAAL from Pixabay
Africa’s energy needs are enormous, especially as countries across the continent are moving quickly to build power-hungry industrial sectors. While the need for abundant clean energy is clearly there, some, led by ...
by Eric Olander

The Growing Demand for Chinese Second-Hand Clothing in Africa

TRANSLATION: "Second clothing from China arrives in Africa."
Every year, Chinese consumers discard 26 million tons of used clothing. Much of it goes into landfills, some is incinerated and others are finding their way into developing markets like Africa, where shirts ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese Rail Operator to Kenya Railways: Settle Your Debts First and Then We’ll Hand Over Control of the SGR

File image of Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway that China financed and built as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Simon Mania/AFP
Afristar, a subsidiary of the state-run China Road and Bridge Corporation, informed Kenya Railways that if it wants the May 2022 handover of the Mombasa to Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway to be completed ...
by Eric Olander

A Lot of Kenyans May Want to Ban Imported Fish From China, But That Just Can’t Happen For Now

Fish vendors selling buckets full of silver cyprinid (locally known as omena) near Koguna beach in Mbita, Homabay county, in Western Kenya. SIMON MAINA / AFP
The recent proposal in Kenya’s National Assembly to ban imported fish from China has sparked a lively discussion about how to simultaneously enhance the country’s food security while bolstering the livelihoods of Kenya’s ...
by Eric Olander

MENA Countries Are Receiving the Bulk of Chinese Vaccines in Africa

Chinese vaccine deliveries to Africa increased by 5 million doses over the past week to 50.8 million jabs, according to the latest data from Beijing-based health consultancy Bridge Consulting’s Chinese ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Enhances Its Dominant Role in the Congolese Mining Sector With Massive New $2.5 Billion Investment

File image of the processing plant at China Molybdenum’s Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The state-owned China Molybdenum Co (aka China Moly) recently announced a massive new $2.5 billion investment in its Tenke Fungurume mine (TFM) in southeastern DR Congo that aims to double its copper and cobalt ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Control of Strategic Resources in Places Like the DRC is Becoming a Right-Wing Media Meme in the U.S.

Conservative media outlets in the United States are using China’s dominance in key strategic resource markets, particularly materials used to manufacture EV batteries, as a new vector in their partisan battle against efforts ...
by Eric Olander

The DRC is Now a Major Focal Point in China’s Trade With Africa

Last week’s announcement by China Moly that it will invest $2.5 billion to expand its mining operations in the DR Congo highlights the growing importance of the DRC to China’s broader trade agenda ...
by Eric Olander

Automakers Keen to Reduce Reliance on Cobalt-Powered EV Batteries

A worker walks on a road next to the new Tesla factory built in Shanghai on November 8, 2019. HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP
Rumors are buzzing within the Chinese auto industry that Tesla is trying for the first time to produce a car without a cobalt-powered battery. Tesla is reportedly considering the use ...
by Eric Olander

Mounting Anger in the DRC Following New Videos of Apparent Illegal Chinese Mining

For the past several weeks, there’s been a noticeable increase in the number of videos and photos published on Congolese social media channels fuelling mounting public anger over Chinese labor and environmental practices ...
by Eric Olander

President Edgar Lungu Commissions New Chinese-Built Airport As Part of a Last-Minute Campaign Push

Zambian President Edgar Lungu, currently in the final leg of a bitterly contested election campaign, did what politicians love best: cutting a ribbon to inaugurate new infrastructure. The President last week 
by Eric Olander

Kenya Fisheries Minister: No Ban on Chinese Fish Imports

A frozen Tilapia fish imported from China being thawed out at a local market in Kenya. Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP
For the second time in three years, Kenya has walked back a threat to ban fish imported from China. Fisheries Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya (photo) said late last week that Nairobi would not ...
by Eric Olander

Rwandan Trade Industry Leaders Urges Businesses To Look Beyond China To Source Imports

Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash
Severe shipping disruptions brought on the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in much higher import costs in Rwanda, especially from China, prompting one industry official to urge businesses to find alternate suppliers. The 10% ...
by Eric Olander

Africa’s Largest Bank Is Positioning Itself as a Turn-Key China-Africa Trade Agent

Standard Bank’s Zambian unit wants farmers to know they’re a one-stop-shop to import equipment and other agricultural materials from China. Stanbic Bank Zambia, more than almost any other major financial ...
by Eric Olander

Week in Review: Pangolins, Power and Payments

Nigerian customs authorities at the port of Lekki sized a record 7.1 tons of pangolin scales on Wednesday and arrested three suspects. A fourth, believed to be the smuggling kingpin is still at large. ...
by Eric Olander
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