Related Posts

[WEEK IN REVIEW] Chinese Hacking in Kenya & DRC President Goes to Beijing

This week CGSP Francophone Africa Editor Geraud Neema joins Eric & Cobus to discuss DR Congo President Félix Tshiskedi's state visit to China which comes at a critical time for the Congolese leader. Tshisekedi is going to pressure his Chinese hosts ...

South Africa’s SABC Tackles DRC-China Relations

While African broadcasters frequently cover Africa-China relations on talk shows, it’s rare to see African reporters covering the issue on location in other African countries. So it was notable to see South Africa’s state broadcaster, SABC News, produce a report from ...

New Complaint Adds to Kenya’s Chinese Contractor Woes

A Chinese contractor has slapped the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) with a bill for 1.1 billion Kenyan shillings ($9.6 million) in interest for delayed payments. The contractor, Nari-PCGE, complained to the Kenyan Parliament that it hadn’t been paid for its work on the 428-kilometer Loiyangalani-Suswa transmission line. ...

Influential U.S. Group Calls on China and Other Creditors to Be More Transparent About Emerging Market Debt

An influential group of scholars and finance leaders in the U.S. appealed for a new "global consensus" on debt transparency in developing countries and described China's involvement as "critical." The Bretton Woods Committee said in a report ...

All Smiles as DR Congo’s Ambassador to China Visits Mining Giant’s HQ in Beijing

The DR Congo's ambassador to China, François Nkuna Balumuene, made a courtesy call visit last week to the headquarters of China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group (CNMC) Deziwa, the state-owned mining giant that runs huge copper and cobalt operations in the DRC. Balumuene ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

2026: Africa-China Relations in a World Shaped by North-South Geopolitics

When talking about Africa–China relations, one is always moving along a sliding scale. There are myriad interactions with Chinese entities that concern only individual African countries, segueing into trends affecting the whole continent and sliding further into global dynamics shaping the developing world, of which Africa is the heart.

The Africa-China relationship is its own thing, but Africa’s fate can’t easily be separated from factors affecting the wider Global South, ...

Kenya’s SGR Scandal Isn’t Going Away

This week saw the announcement that the United Kingdom’s international development investment arm, the CDC Group, will invest $1 billion in Kenyan infrastructure. This will include funding a new rail transit hub in Nairobi. It’s interesting that the UK is leaning into ...

Brace Yourself, You’re Going to be Inundated With Pictures of Chinese Infrastructure in the DRC

Now that the contentious contract disputes between the DRC government and the major Chinese mining companies appear to be settling, at least for now, expect to see a torrent of paid media, tweets, and countless propaganda stories extolling the merits of China's infrastructure-for-resource deals. ...

Why This Photo May Indicate That China’s Mining Contracts Problem in the DR Congo Has Been Resolved

DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi's office published a photo of a Christmas Eve meeting with Sun Ruiwen, president of China Molybdenum (aka "China Moly.") The company controls the massive Tenke Fungurume cobalt and copper mine (TFM) in Lualaba province. Sun reportedly reassured President ...

Former U.S. Diplomat Peter Pham Draws China’s Ambassador to the DRC Into a Twitter Feud

Long time Twitter rivals J. Peter Pham, a U.S. diplomat during the Trump administration and a vocal critic of China in Africa, and China's ambassador to the DR Congo, Zhu Jing, squabbled again over the weekend after Pham tagged the ambassador personally in a critical post related ...

Biden-Tshisekedi Meet on Sidelines of G20

DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi met one-on-one with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, on Friday in the run-up to the G20 summit that took place over the weekend in Rome.  There's been a lot of interest in recent months 

Uganda’s Parliament Considering New Law to Bolster Local Construction Companies Against Chinese Competition

The Ugandan parliament is considering a bill proposed by infrastructure minister Katumba Wamala that would provide sanctuary to local construction companies when bidding for smaller road contracts. Although China was not mentioned in the proposed legislation specifically, it's widely ...

Tshisekedi Appears to Be Looking for an Exit to His Prolonged Standoff With Chinese Mining Companies

On Friday DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi hinted during a meeting of the Council of Ministers (the DRC's cabinet) that he wants to bring an end to the ongoing dispute with Chinese mining companies over unfair contracts. The President 
Page 1 of 3123