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Burkina Faso: A New Chinese “Prince” Emerges Close to Junta Leader

As Burkina Faso’s military government reshapes its alliances in the face of a growing jihadist threat, a little-known but influential Chinese businessman has quietly risen to the center of the country’s war economy: Li Yubao. Operating in Burkina Faso ...

APSONIC Is Another Chinese Company That You’ve Probably Never Heard but That’s Absolutely Crushing It in Africa

A Chinese maker of motorcycles is quietly cornering the African market. While Apsonic isn’t famous, the Guangzhou company has built up an impressive presence in West Africa, after setting up shop in Togo in 2003. Now its products are buzzing through ...

Burkina Faso Launches New Huawei-Powered Smart City Initiative Using Loan From the China Exim Bank

The Burkina Faso government announced an ambitious new plan last week to build a 650-kilometer fiber-optic network that will connect all of the country's major cities to a new Huawei-powered Smart City platform.  Sensitive to the perception that the ...

Chinese Embassy in Burkina Faso Admonishes Hiker and Tells Him to Go Home

The Chinese embassy in Burkina Faso took the rare step of issuing a public statement on its website that called on 26-year-old hiker Lu Jiabin to give up his mission to cross the entire African continent by foot and go home.

Donkey Hide is the New Ivory for the Chinese in Africa

It will likely not come as a surprise to many that once again Chinese consumer demand is responsible for another animal crisis in Africa. Chinese companies don’t want these donkeys for their meat, just the hides that are used as an ingredient in a ...

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 ...