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China Eyes Strategic Role in Kenya’s Port Privatization Plans

As Kenya revives plans to privatize the management of its key ports in Mombasa and Lamu through public-private partnerships, China is quietly positioning itself for a larger role in the country’s maritime infrastructure. The China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), ...

China Shows Off Force Projection Capabilities in Military Drills With Tanzania

China demonstrated new capabilities this week to deploy military forces to far-flung theaters with the first-ever use of the PLA's Y-20 transport aircraft to bring troops to East Africa. The PLA troops are participating in nearly two weeks of air and ...

Chinese Embassy in Kenya Hosts Unusual Event About Taiwan

The Chinese embassy in Kenya hosted an unusual forum on Monday that focused on Beijing's already well-known position regarding the status of Taiwan. Ambassador Zhou Pingjian apparently wanted to make it very clear to the nearly two dozen senior officials, MPs, and ...

Chinese Tea Importers Teach Kenyan Diplomats About Tea

Chinese importers bought almost $8 million worth of Kenyan tea in 2022 and it's a market that offers enormous growth potential for East African growers. But Chinese tastes for tea are quite particular. So, a pair of Kenyan diplomats learned firsthand ...

Huawei Expands Digital Power Products With New Distribution Deal in East Africa

The Chinese technology giant Huawei, once known only for phones and switches, is now pivoting quickly in East Africa to expand beyond telecommunications to new energy storage services in a new, rapidly expanding market. Huawei signed a distribution deal last ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

BRICS Announces Numerous New Initiatives

The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...

Kenyan-Chinese Smartphone Assembly Plant Debuts

Kenyan President William Ruto launched the country’s first smartphone assembly plant earlier this week. Located in a town outside of Nairobi, the East Africa Device Assembly Kenya plant is a joint venture between Kenyan telecom companies Safaricom and Jamii and the Chinese mobile device dealer Shenzhen TeleOne Technology. ...

Chinese Loans to Africa by Region, 2000-2022

From 2000-2022, countries in Southern Africa and East Africa historically borrowed the most from China primarily due to large-scale loans in Angola, Zambia, South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya. In 2021 and 2022, the regional composition is distinct from previous years; lending ...

Indian FM Jaishankar Takes Veiled Swipe at China During Africa Tour

India's top diplomat S. Jaishankar issued a subtle yet direct criticism of China's engagement in Africa during a recent tour of Zanzibar and Tanzania. "Unlike some other countries," he told a meeting of the Indian diaspora community in Dar es Salaam, ...

TotalEnergies Signs Deal With Chinese Contractor for Controversial Africa Pipeline Work

French energy giant TotalEnergies concluded a deal with China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering and East Africa Oil Pipeline operator EACOP to build the environmentally controversial pipeline in East Africa. The Chinese company will replace a Russian pipe supplier to provide some of ...

Uganda to Become Africa’s Newest Oil Exporting Country With Inauguration of New Chinese-operated Drilling in Lake Albert

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's long-held ambition to export oil via the controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will move closer to reality on Tuesday when he commissions the country's first new drilling site in Lake Albert. The President will inaugurate ...

Kenya’s New President Faces Many Challenges, Including Balancing China

Kenya's new President William Ruto, takes power at a complex time for the East African country. As Kenya's economy creaks under a large debt burden, he also faces numerous regional challenges, including conflict in Ethiopia and terrorism in Somalia.  These challenges ...

Chinese Lending Cut Makes Japan Kenya’s Largest New Lender

A sharp cut in Chinese lending to Kenya means that Japan now outpaces it in new lending to the East African country, according to new numbers released by the Kenyan Treasury. Compared to a height of $1.2 billion in 2016, Chinese lending to Kenya for the current fiscal ...
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