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Trump Says U.S. ‘Wants to Help China, Not Hurt It’

President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States wants to help China, not hurt it, striking a conciliatory tone days after threatening an additional 100 percent tariff on the world's second-largest economy. Trump's statements on Friday as well as his threat ...

Asian Markets Wobble as Trump-Xi Talks Offset by Musk Row

Asian markets stuttered Friday as optimism from "very positive" talks between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping was wiped out by the stunning public row between the U.S. leader and Elon Musk. The much-anticipated discussions between the heads of the world's ...

“Ugly Monday” Kicks Off China’s Response to U.S. Tariffs

China’s stock market suffered the largest losses since 2022 as investors braced for the impact of China’s countermeasures to cumulative tariffs of more than 50% imposed by the Trump administration. Beijing announced 34% retaliatory tariffs on all U.S. imports on Friday. The announcement came during a long weekend ...

WEEK in REVIEW: Chinese FM Criticizes US Missile Deployment in the Philippines

Chinese naval and air forces conducted patrols around a flashpoint reef in the South China Sea on Saturday after a slew of tense encounters with the Philippines in the disputed waterway in recent months. The patrols coincided with joint exercises carried out by the United States, Australia, Japan, ...

Naspers Stock Rises on White House Assurances That Proposed WeChat Ban Won’t be as Broad as Previously Feared

Investors in Africa's most valuable public company, Naspers, breathed a sigh of relief on Monday after hearing that any White House measures against WeChat and its parent company Tencent won't be as broad as initially feared. A Naspers subsidiary is Tencent's ...

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 ...

Africa’s Largest Publicly Traded Company Now Squarely in the U.S.-China Crossfire

The stock price of Africa's largest and most valuable publicly traded company has been on a roller coaster ride since U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to ban Tencent-owned WeChat from U.S. app stores. Naspers, through one of its subsidiaries, is ...

Black Monday in Johannesburg: The JSE Had One of Its Worst Trading Days in 20 Years Over Mounting COVID-19 Concerns

Share prices on Africa's leading index, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, plummeted on Monday amid surging investor fear over the economic damage caused by the escalating COVID-19 crisis.  The JSE shed 4.5% in trading yesterday, making it one ...

How China's Economic Slowdown Will Impact Africa

The tremors in China's faltering economy are being felt across Africa. Now that China has replaced Europe and the United States as most African countries' largest trading partner, there is understandable concern that slowing demand in the PRC will be felt in Africa's commodity ...