I was in Berlin this week for a conference on the EU’s relationship with Africa in the context of the continent’s growing ties with external actors, many of whom Europe finds acutely worrying.
The conference eerily landed on the second anniversary of the October 7 attack in Israel. I was in Berlin two years ago as well. In the weeks after the attack, one could see how Western powers’ ...
Tag: ICBC
Related Posts
China’s Lending to the Global South Has Been Growing More Commercial
By Yunnan Chen Development finance has been embattled of late. Aid cutbacks have raised alarm over financing for climate and development goals. The most notable example is the egregious dismantling of the US Agency for ...
When Ideology Meets Inflation, Argentina’s Milei Turns to China
The cry “Cambio! Cambio! Cambio!” rings out along Calle Florida, the bustling commercial artery of Buenos Aires. Dozens of unofficial money changers—many of them migrants from Chile, Venezuela, and Bolivia—line the street, calling out to passersby. They offer mercado azul, or the “blue market” exchange rates, trading ...
Chinese Lending to Africa is Way More Complicated Than You Think
It's widely believed that Chinese lending to African countries is predominantly done by a few state policy banks, such as the China Exim Bank and the China Development Bank. While that was true in the past, today the situation is far ...
Zambia is Very Close to Finalizing Its Debt Restructuring, But There’s Still One More Chinese Obstacle in the Way
Zambia's breakthrough deal on Monday to restructure $3 billion of Eurobond debt helps the southern African country move tantalizingly close to finally ending three years of brutal negotiations with its various creditors. Even though President Haikinde Hichilema's government has already negotiated a ...
WEEK IN REVIEW: ASEAN Kicked off First-Ever Joint Naval Drills in South China Sea on Tuesday
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) kicked off its first-ever joint naval drills in the South China Sea on Tuesday near Indonesia's Nantuna island. The five-day exercise comes at a sensitive time when many ASEAN members are locked in bitter maritime territorial disputes with China.
WEEK IN REVIEW: Solomon Islands Signs Police Cooperation Agreement With China
The Solomon Islands signed a police cooperation agreement with China, as part of upgrading their ties to a strategic comprehensive partnership. This resulted from a state visit by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to Beijing, and follows alarm in the U.S. and Australia due to a joint security pact ...
Why a Chinese Province’s Trade Plans Could Be a Game-Changer for Africa
“The United States is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future.” This was the line from President Joe Biden at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in December. This linking of Africa and “future” is a tic of our time. It play-acts inclusivity while deftly stepping past the fact that ...
Brazil’s President Lula Kicks Off Official Visit in Shanghai
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Shanghai on his way to a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this week. His time in Shanghai will include attending the inauguration of former Brazilian president and Lula ally Dilma ...
Mobile Phone Giant Tecno Wants a Piece of Kenya’s Booming Mobile Money Market
Transsion's Tecno brand is expanding its new mobile money service to Kenya this week. “The wallet has pilot launched in Nigeria in May, and roll-out to Kenya in middle of June," the company said in a statement. A mobile payment option from ...
South Africa’s Standard Bank Wants to Exit a Once-Legendary Joint Venture with Chinese Mega-Bank ICBC
Standard Bank, one of South Africa’s major banks, is looking to exit a joint venture with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC.) The joint venture, the London-based ICBC Standard Bank Plc (ICBCS), long represented the largest Chinese investment on the continent.
Even After China Bailed on Its Sengwa Coal Plant in Zimbabwe, RioZim Seems Unusually Confident It’ll Find Other Backers
Many presumed that the $3 billion Sengwa coal-fired power plant project in Zimbabwe was doomed after the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China withdrew its support earlier this year as the project's largest financier. Not so, according to plant's owner RioZim that said in its half-year trading ...
ICBC Launches New China-Africa Currency Center in Hunan
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Hunan province launched a new cross-border China-Africa currency center on Tuesday to facilitate transactions between Chinese yuan and six African currencies including the Kenyan shilling, Nigerian naira, Botswanan pula, Ghanaian sedi, and the Zambian kwacha.