Rajpriya Gautam

For the second time in two years, China is being accused of spying on the headquarters of the African Union.  A new report published today by the Reuters news service alleges  that suspected Chinese hackers infiltrated AU servers and obtained video surveillance files from the African body’s sprawling campus in Addis Ababa. The breach was purportedly carried out by a Chinese hacking group known as “Bronze President,” according to a five-page internal memo that was reviewed by Reuters.   The penetration was reportedly identified by a group of Japanese cyber researchers who then tipped off the AU’s IT department. Besides Reuters, there’s been no other verification of the hack. Also, it’s not clear at this time who precisely may be behind the alleged breach – whether it was the government or some other entity acting on its behalf. There’s also no way to tell how much data was taken from the servers that stored video surveillance of “AU offices, parking areas, corrido...

Reuters’ exclusive report  that suspected Chinese hackers penetrated the African Union’s IT networks to siphon off data prompted many to think “uh oh, here we go again,” and recalling similar accusations back in 2018. In 2018,  the French newspaper Le Monde published a report  that was also  later confirmed by the Financial Times  that Chinese entities had allegedly inserted so-called “back doors” on the AU’s computer network. For five years, according to those reports, massive data dumps took place at night, with countless files purportedly transferred from the AU HQ in Addis  to servers located in Shanghai. The timing of this latest allegation may be a bit awkward for the Chinese and the African Union in light of  this week’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new headquarters of the Africa Centers for Disease Control , a division of the AU. The new building will be financed and constructed by China which prompted the United States back in February t...

A second batch of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Cairo on Tuesday,  according to a report in the Egypt Today newspaper.  Altogether, the Chinese have shipped 100,000 doses to Egypt over the past week that will inoculate 50,000 people. Egyptian health ministry officials say they plan to import as much as 10 million doses from China and have said they’ll provide the vaccines to its people free of charge. The government will also  launch a new website that will allow residents to reserve doses of COVID-19 vaccines  for themselves and immediate family members. So far, Egypt is the only African country to have received Chinese-made vaccine shipments. SUGGESTED READING: Arab News :  Egypt receives second batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Egypt Today :  2nd batch of Chinese Coronavirus vaccine arrives in Cairo with 50k doses Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trend...

Peter O’Connor, a senior analyst of metals and mining at the Australian investment firm Shaw and Partners, said out loud on CNBC what many people have been quietly thinking: that the natural progression of China’s steadily deteriorating ties with Australia will prompt Beijing to end its dependence on Aussie iron ore and look to the massive Simandou mine in Guinea as a potential alternative. “China needs to diversify their supply, and I think the country where they will most likely do that, which has been simmering for some time, is a country in West Africa called Guinea … and probably largely China-funded and developed,” he said.   Guinea says its  Simandou  region boasts an  estimated 1.8 billion tons of iron ore reserves  — the world’s largest known, yet untapped deposits. R ead more on this and watch the full interview on the CNBC website. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the k...

Hong Kong-based Lingnan University Assistant Professor Roberto Castillo, one of the world’s foremost scholars on the African diaspora in China,  published a new vlog that previews a number of the key themes featured in his upcoming book on the topic. Castillo challenges many of the prevailing stereotypes about the African population in China, contending that so much of what people believe is shaped by warped U.S. and European perceptions of race, migration, and African identity. Castillo’s insights on this poorly-understood topic are always interesting and this video is worth watching. W atch the video on Roberto Castillo’s YouTube channel. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Connect with leading professionals on the China- Africa Experts Network. You've reached your free monthly article limit. Subscribe today for unlimited access. SUBSCRIBE: $15 p...

China’s top diplomat for sub-Saharan Africa, Wu Peng,  posted a tweet today that restated China’s often-repeated position  about its commitment to implement the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative and to help “alleviate debt pressure on African countries.” It’s not exactly clear what prompted Ambassador Wu to post the tweet, given that he shared an image of Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying the same thing from two weeks ago. Nonetheless, it served as a reminder of just how much the debate over Chinese debt in Africa (and, of course, all that rhetoric about “debt traps”) has receded. Throughout the summer, we heard near-weekly critiques from the likes of  David Malpass at the World Bank , representatives from  Paris Club lenders ,  the IMF,  and others that China was not doing enough to support the DSSI and African debt relief in general. We don’t hear that anymore. Nor is there much coming out of  Nigeria  and  Kenya , in particular,...

The Nation’s Senior Diplomatic Writer, Aggrey Mutambo, sat down with China’s ambassador to Kenya for a wide-ranging interview that covered access to Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines, next year’s FOCAC summit in Dakar, and how Beijing will deal with Nairobi’s difficulty in repaying its debts. The following is an extract of their exchange regarding the pressing issue of Kenya’s inability to repay the estimated $6.2 billion of loans that it owes China for projects like the Standard Gauge Railway: AGGREY MUTAMBO: “China is now one of the biggest financiers of infrastructure projects in Kenya. But it is also one of the biggest creditors to Kenya. Is Beijing worried about Kenya’s ability to repay the loans, given that these concerns have already attracted downgrades in sovereign credit ratings?” AMBASSADOR ZHOU PINGJIANG:  “ As for the loans, China is Kenya’s leading bilateral lender at Sh750 billion. The loans attract an annual interest rate of about three percent. Twenty percent of Ke...

The investigative series Africa Uncensored broadcast a riveting one-hour documentary on Kenyan national TV last night that explored the country’s ballooning national debt. The program highlighted how, as Kenya’s largest bilateral creditor owning an estimated 70% (or $6.2 billion) of its external debt, China plays a central role in this issue. W atch the full documentary on the Africa Uncensored YouTube channel. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Connect with leading professionals on the China- Africa Experts Network. You've reached your free monthly article limit. Subscribe today for unlimited access. SUBSCRIBE: $15 per month SUBSCRIBE: $149 per year -17% Savings The post China, Debt and the Future of Kenya appeared first on The China Africa Project . source https://chinaafricaproject.com/2020/12/16/china-debt-and-the-future-of-kenya/?u...

Ethiopia’s ambassador to China, Teshome Tog Chanaka,  shared his enthusiasm on Twitter Tuesday  about his participation in the latest forum on how to integrate Africa into the Belt and Road. The event was organized by the Algerian embassy and the Taihe Institute, an international policy think tank in Beijing. Conversations like this highlight the growing interest among key stakeholders in both China and among a number of African countries  to leverage the BRI’s trade networks with the new African Continental Free Trade Area . Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Connect with leading professionals on the China- Africa Experts Network. You've reached your free monthly article limit. Subscribe today for unlimited access. SUBSCRIBE: $15 per month SUBSCRIBE: $149 per year -17% Savings The post African Diplomats in China Are Spending a Lot Mo...

Passengers have had a week to try out Nigeria’s brand new Chinese-built standard gauge railway that links Lagos to Ibadan. The new service is operating on a limited schedule with just two trains a day but that’ll expand to 16 daily departures shortly once construction of the remaining stations is complete. Those who have completed the 2.5-hour one-way trip seemed very pleased and downright excited that Nigeria now has a modern railway. There were a few grumblings over the high ticket prices but others argued that cheaper tickets would cause the service to be quickly overwhelmed by too many passengers. W atch the video on The Punch’s YouTube channel. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Connect with leading professionals on the China- Africa Experts Network. You've reached your free monthly article limit. Subscribe today for unlimited access. SUBSCRIB...

$1.46 billion of new foreign direct investment made its way to Nigeria in the third quarter of 2020,  according to new data from the National Bureau of Statistics , but very little is coming from China. In fact, China (ex Hong Kong) wasn’t among the list of top 15 investors, dominated by the UK, Netherlands, and Ireland. That’s a very different story from last year at this time,  when Chinese venture capital firms plowed a quarter of a billion dollars into Nigeria’s then-booming tech sector , specifically early-stage fintech companies. Expectations ran high back then, before the COVID-19 outbreak,  that Chinese VC-financing would continue into 2020  which, of course, did not happen. But that’s not the case in Ghana, where Chinese investors are leading the way this year as highlighted by Tuesday’s $105 million deal for Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining to buy out Resolute Mining’s stake in the Bibiani gold mine,  the second major Chinese mining acquisition  ...

China is working closely with Ethiopia, Egypt, and likely other African countries to lay the groundwork to deliver millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the continent.  With the new cold-chain air bridge that was announced last week  between Shenzhen and Addis Ababa, it’s becoming more evident as to how the vaccines will make it from China to Africa. However, it’s still not clear what will happen once the vaccines arrive on the continent and how’ll they’ll be distributed evenly to each country. Professor Deborah Bräutigam, director of the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University,  told the German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle on Monday  that she thinks Beijing will turn to the World Health Organization for assistance: “At this point, we have more than 40 countries in Africa who’ve signed on to the Belt and Road Initiative and I think it would be problematic for Beijing to select out of those 43 some to be first and some to follow. So, wha...

Last month the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at Johns Hopkins University  hosted a French-language webinar  that explored Franco-Chinese business cooperation in Africa. The discussion was conducted in French but now  CARI has released an English-language summary  of the key highlights from the three panelists: Thierry Pairault , Director Emeritus of Research, French National Centre for Scientific Research; Director, Research Center on Modern and Contemporary China, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) Jérémy Rubel , Director of International Business Development, SETEC ITS (Société d’études techniques et économiques/Technical and Economic Studies Company, Intelligent Transportation Systems division) Amadou Sy , Director of Investments, Meridiam; Founding Member, Afrikamaono INTRODUCTION:  “Many aspects of Sino-African relations receive biased or simplistic media coverage. This is especially true of highly nuanced issues, lik...

Recently, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center and the Policy Center for the New South launched a pair of reports on external power competition in Africa, with one focused on traditional powers and the other on emerging powers in the region. One of the contributors to those reports, Africa Center Senior Fellow  Aubrey Hruby , explained how U.S. foreign policy is becoming more commercially-focused in part as a response to heightened Chinese competition for influence on the continent. SUGGESTED READING: Policy Center for the New South :  Emerging powers in Africa: key drivers, differing interests, and future perspectives  by Khalid Chegraoui, Rida Lyammouri & Maha Skah The Atlantic Council :  African agency in the new Cold War: Traditional power competition in the post-COVID-19 African landscape  by Bronwyn Bruton Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shapi...

The so-called “ Wolf Warrior ” meme that characterized Chinese diplomats in much the same way as the gung-ho, take-no-prisoners, Rambo style action star in the blockbuster movie was once roundly rejected by officials in Beijing. But no more. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying  now seems to embrace the idea and reframed it as China simply defending itself against its critics  (namely the United States and Australia).  Interestingly, the Chinese Wolf Warrior concept is rooted in Africa. Beyond the fact that the movie itself was set in some fictitious African country, one of the first Chinese diplomats to earn the nickname was the outspoken former  Chinese ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian . Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Connect with leading professionals on the China- Africa Experts Network. You've reached your fre...

Senior African Union officials together with Chinese diplomats  led a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday at the site of the new Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters  in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Just as with the African Union’s own headquarters, the new CDC building will be largely financed by the Chinese government. Chinese contractors will build the facility. Officials say they expect construction of the 90,000 square meter project to take about two years to complete. China’s Soft Power Dividend From Africa CDC HQ Initiative is Already Evident “ A historical moment for the African Union  Ground breaking & unveiling Ceremony of d China Aided Project of d Africa CDC Headquarters Building (Phase 1). A building that will upscale & build our skills & competency for disease Control & Prevention” —  Sarah Anyang Agbor, Commissioner of Human Resources, Science and Technology at the AU Commission  (@PROFSARAHA...

A pair of researchers from Central Asia  are questioning the findings of a new dataset  produced by  Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center  (GDPC) which purportedly shows a sharp drop in Chinese overseas lending. Among the key findings published last week by the GDPC that garnered considerable media attention around the world,  including CAP , was the plunge in lending  from $75 billion in 2016 to just $4 billion last year. Niva Yau , a researcher at the  OSCE Academy  in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and also a fellow at the Philadephia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute co-authored a rebuttal with Tristan Kenderdine, research director at the Kazakh-based political risk consultancy  Future Risks , which tracks Chinese engagement in Eurasia, that was  published over the weekend on The Diplomat  (see below for key highlights).  Yau took to Twitter today to outline her objections to BU’s data collection methodol...

A new report by the  International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) at the Central University of Economics and Finance in Beijing  appears to echo some of the same themes that emerged from Boston University’s Overseas Chinese Lending Database, specifically related to an apparent sharp decline in Chinese lending to countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The paper, written by researchers Yue Mengdi and Christoph Nedopil Wang, concluded that since 2018, “China’s newly-issued loans to the rest of the world have decreased significantly” and confirm that borrowers are finding it increasingly difficult to service existing loans. Key Highlights of the IIGF’s New Report About Chinese Debt Along the Belt and Road CHINA’S RISK APPETITE:  “One remarkable feature of China’s loans is that since 2013, the majority of Chinese loans announced (but not necessarily disbursed) are for countries with the highest risk rating according to the OECD, such as Pakistan (about USD3...

Although China’s debt relief efforts are often downplayed by many of its critics in the U.S. and EU, the fact is that Beijing’s done more to renegotiate and cancel loans to African countries during the current financial crisis than it has previously:  In June,  President Xi Jinping announced Beijing would cancel $3.4 billion of zero-interest loans  made to African countries between 2000 and 2019. C hina’s extended $2.1 billion of combined debt relief to developing countries  through the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative, more than any other country, according to Reuters. Research by the Rhodium Group found  18 instances of Chinese debt restructuring talks with borrowers in developing countries this year covering an estimated $28 billion worth of loans. Near term,  according to new analysis by the Oxford China International Consultancy and Development Reimagined , China’s debt relief efforts are indeed providing tangible benefits to borrowi...

Over the past several weeks, Chinese officials have convened a series of high profile forums with key African stakeholders in what appears to be an effort to lay the groundwork for next year’s triennial Forum on China Africa Cooperation Summit (FOCAC) that is scheduled to take place in Dakar, Senegal. Greater participation by Chinese private companies and some State-Owned Enterprises is expected to be a key theme at the upcoming FOCAC — partially in response to the current financial crisis where African access to large amounts of Chinese development finance remains an open question. This is a particularly important issue in infrastructure development given Africa’s enormous deficit in building sufficient power, transportation and telecommunications networks.  So, it’ll be interesting to keep an eye on developments in Nairobi , where a groundbreaking public-private-partnership (PPP) between the Kenyan government and the China Road and Bridge Corporation is underway to build a 27km...

It is becoming increasingly apparent that Africa is going to be the last region around the world to secure sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to innoculate a majority of its population, according to data from the Economist Intelligence Unit. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),  echoed that sentiment last Friday  when he implored wealthier countries not to deprive the continent of timely access to vaccines. So, it’s in this context that the  inaugural batch of Chinese-made vaccines that arrived in Cairo on Friday , the first from China to make it to Africa, is so important.  It highlights the enormous soft power opportunity that’s available to the Chinese if they can actually deliver enough vaccines to help reduce the continent’s expected wait time of 1-2 years for widespread vaccine availability to just, say, 12-15 months. Although China has announced a  vaccine manufacturing deal in Egypt ,  se...

The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday  became the first foreign country to officially approve the use of a Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine . UAE’s health ministry reported that the vaccine made by Sinopharm was 86% effective in phase 3 clinical trials. Abu Dhabi’s decision provides a huge boost for Chinese vaccine makers  who’ve fallen behind U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies in recent weeks  in getting their treatments through the last stage of clinical trials. Sinopharm is conducting similar tests in ten other countries including Egypt, Bahrain, and Jordan. The key question now is whether Sinopharm and other Chinese vaccine manufacturers will be able to meet the enormous demand around the world, heightened in part by  Chinese President Xi Jinping’s assurance  last May to make a Chinese-made vaccine available to developing countries as a “ global public good .” Sinovac, another Chinese vaccine-maker, s aid it will be able to produce 300 million doses ...