Rajpriya Gautam

Algeria’s national vaccination drive, already up and running, got a shot in the arm on Wednesday with the arrival of 200,000 Sinopharm jabs donated by China. Algiers kicked off its vaccination campaign last month using a mix of supplies from China, Russia, and AstraZeneca.  (INTERLIGNES) Other Chinese Vaccine News From Around the World: PERSIAN GULF : Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s office confirmed that Baghdad will purchase an unknown quantity of vaccines from Sinopharm. An initial donation shipment is expected to arrive there on Monday.  (CGTN) MIDEAST:  Syria’s health ministry on Wednesday denied a newspaper report that said Chinese coronavirus vaccinations had arrived in the country and were being distributed nationwide.  (REUTERS) CARIBBEAN:  The Dominican Republic took delivery of 768,000 doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines from China on Tuesday. Another shipment from China is scheduled to arrive on March 15.  (PRENSA LATINA) AMER...

The small Atlantic Ocean island state of Cabo Verde appears to be taking on a much larger role within the burgeoning U.S.-China rivalry in Africa. On Tuesday, in just his fourth call to an African counterpart, the new U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, spoke by phone with foreign and defense minister, Rui Figueiredo. Located 570km off the coast of West Africa, Cabo Verde is widely seen by both global powers as a prime location for refueling jets and ships. China, as it often does, lavished Cabo Verde with building donations, including a new presidential palace, government compound, football stadium, and a $60 million expansion of one of its universities planned for this year. Read more on this story on the Nikkei Asia website. 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 ...

Gyude Moore, the former Liberian public works minister and now a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development joined prominent China scholar Damien Ma, director and co-founder of MacroPolo, the in-house think tank of the Paulson Institute in Chicago,  for an online discussion that took aim at many misperceptions about China-Africa relations  that are still widely believed in Washington, D.C. Key Highlights From the Ma-Moore Discussion on “China, Africa and Beyond” [8:30] DEBT TRAP : “There’s never really been any evidence that China was intentionally ensnaring its partners into debt and in the event they can’t pay the Chinese would take over flagship infrastructure in the country. It’s just never been any evidence for that. But it’s a good story to tell. China is now a peer competitor to the United States and building infrastructure across the world has been a significant Chinese strength. So, if I was the Americans, I would definitely try to craft a narrative th...

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Forecasting Director Agathe Demarais characterized China’s loan portfolio in Angola as “ a good case study ” for Beijing’s financial engagement across Africa. “ Not really ,” replied Hannah Ryder, CEO of the Beijing-based consultancy Development Reimagined, “it’s more of an outlier” she rightly pointed out. In fact, it’s the extreme exception. Angola has borrowed far more than any other country in Africa. Also, consider that only about five or six countries on the continent face debt distress due to Chinese loans, so this really isn’t a pan-African issue as she framed the issue in her Tweet. 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 SUB...

Scholars around the world are mourning the passing of acclaimed China-Africa scholar Ian Taylor. Former students, colleagues and peers published tributes online and on Twitter. Professor Deborah Brautigam, director of the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University  published a poignant, personal tribute  of her memories working with the University of St. Andrews professor who died from cancer this week at the age of just 52: “Ian was at the peak of an astounding career: the author or editor of 12 books, with over 80 refereed journal articles in his vita. He leaves behind his wife Jo, two children, Archie and Blythe, a brother and other family members and colleagues. He was very well-loved… Ian wrote to me in June last year to share the news of his grave diagnosis. In his usual full-hearted way, he was embarking on this journey with optimism, fortitude, energy, and deep appreciation for the people who were now going to be his new colleagues. “It looks like ...

Ugandan Health Minister June Aceng responded to a recent Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday that alleged  President Yoweri Museveni and his inner circle all received preferential access to Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccinations  last year, when a shipment of 4,000 doses was brought into the country for the exclusive use of Chinese nationals in central Uganda.  “[The Chinese business community] wanted it for themselves, we said strictly limit it to yourselves, we do not want it to spread in the population. Uganda imports vaccines that are World Health Organisation prescribed, assessed for safety…, that is the vaccine we bring for the population and we have applied for it through Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation,”  Aceng said in response to the WSJ story. The vaccines in question were brought in last December  specifically for the Chinese expatriate community at the Liao Shen Industrial Park in Kapeeka. Zhang Hao, the park’s managing director,  ...

There’s a real disconnect in how people in the Global North and South are framing the vaccine inequity crisis. In the U.S., Europe, and Japan, the bulk of the news coverage on the issue focuses on the impact of Chinese and Russian soft power gains in developing countries that result from their massive vaccine distribution initiatives. Meantime, Rwandan President Paul Kagame channeled the seething anger in Africa and other developing regions over the fact that rich countries are unapologetically hoarding the vast majority of the world’s vaccine supply. 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 Rwandan President Paul Kagame C...

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China is not to blame for the burgeoning financial problems in Africa. ” Not a single African country had debt difficulties due to its cooperation with China,”  he said in response to a question from Hunan Radio and Television at the regular press briefing in Beijing . Wang then went on to criticize propagators of the U.S.-led “debt trap” theory by citing research done by Professor Deborah Brautigam, director of the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University. He added that international financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF, along with private bondholders, bear a much larger responsibility than China in resolving the financial crisis: “If we break down African countries’ foreign debt, multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors hold more than three-quarters of the total, and so bear a greater responsibility for debt relief.” Read the full transcript of Wang’s comments on ...

While in the U.S. and Europe Xinjiang is a highly contentious issue, that’s not the case in most of Africa, even in Muslim-majority countries like Chad, where Chinese public diplomacy is very active in projecting Beijing’s narrative on the issue. SUGGESTED READING: The China Africa Project:   China Launches Full-Scale Media Blitz in Africa to Counter Mounting U.S-European Pressure on Xinjiang The China Africa Project :  Most African States Quietly Take China’s Side in Xinjiang Battle at the United Nations 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 In Africa, Chinese Diplomats Actively Promote Their Side of the Xinjia...

Scholars around the world are mourning the untimely passing of acclaimed China-Africa researcher Ian Taylor. The University of St. Andrews professor was widely regarded as among the most thoughtful, provocative scholars in the field. In addition to his position at St. Andrews, Professor Taylor also held appointments at Renmin University in Beijing, Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, and was an Honorary Professor in the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, China. Last fall, in what would be one of his last papers,  Professor published a scathing analysis of the Chinese-financed Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya, which he described as the “New Lunatic Express.” China-Africa Scholars Celebrate the Life of Professor Ian Taylor “Huge loss for the China-Africa research community. I will forever be indebted to prof. Taylor’s intellectual contributions, his kindness and generosity – he made a big impact on my research and teaching over the years. He will be s...

Beginning in July, Kenya’s debt repayment will cross the psychologically important barrier of 1 trillion shillings ($9.15 billion),  according to the National Treasury , prompting renewed concerns over the country’s ability to sustain a debt portfolio that has doubled in size since 2017. Debt servicing costs are now the government’s largest expense, consuming 57% of all tax revenue. But while the numbers may sound alarming,  Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani reassured the Senate Finance Committee on Monday  that Kenya’s debt levels are still sustainable. Yatani noted that even with the big increase in borrowing, the country’s debt-to-GDP level remains at a relatively safe 66%. Over the past several months, Kenya’s been working closely with its largest creditors, the World Bank and China’s two major policy banks (China Development Bank and China Exim Bank), to restructure some of its debts. But so far, they’ve only agreed to a series of debt deferrals that are...

The Nigerian Debt Management Office on Monday revealed that it has $5.8 billion of borrowed money on its books that it hasn’t disbursed. This prompted new worries among some financial analysts that the actual debt-to-GDP ratio has surpassed 100%, meaning that the country has taken on so much debt that it now needs to borrow more just to service those loans. But the $8.4 billion in project-tied concessional loans from China  is not the problem, according to Nnamdi Nwizu, Co-Managing Partner at Commercio Partner  in an interview on CNBC Africa yesterday . Those concessional loans from the Chinese and multilateral lenders are much better than costlier Eurobond debt, he added. Nwizu went on to provide a clear explanation for what he sees as a critical challenge facing Nigeria as it tries to manage potentially dangerous levels of debt: From 2014 to 2020 Nigeria’s debts have almost tripled from about N11.2 trillion to about N32 trillion, so debt is really a cause for concern espe...

There’s new evidence of the dramatic plunge in Chinese overseas development finance.  Researchers in the United States found that for the first time in more than a decade , China’s two largest policy banks, the China Development Bank and the China Exim Bank, did not lend any money for projects in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Lending will likely never return to pre-pandemic levels, concluded the authors of a new report on the issue published The Dialogue and Boston University’s Global Policy Development Center. And the reasons for the curtailment of loans to Latin America overlap with what’s happening in Africa. What’s Behind the Fall in Chinese Overseas Development Finance? BAD LOANS:  The Chinese extended tens of billions of dollars of loans to Venezuela,  which is effectively now in default. With oil prices still relatively low, China’s policy banks are in no mood no to pour good money after bad. There are some interesting similarities here with the Chine...

Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed announced that China will provide an additional 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Egypt in the coming days, the second such donation in as many months. But the Chinese contribution is quite small relative to the 40 million jabs that Cairo will soon receive from the global Covax alliance and an additional 60 million doses that it will procure from various other sources including AstraZeneca.  (EGYPT TODAY) 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 to Provide Egypt With an Additional 300,000 Doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine appeared first on The China Africa Project . ...

The Economist produced a compelling visual image that highlights the stark inequity in COVId-19 vaccine distribution around the world and how a disproportionate quantity of jabs are being hoarded by wealthy countries in the Global North. Click on the image above or here to see a larger version of this image (no subscription required) on The Economist website. 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 The Economist: Half of the World’s COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Has Been Reserved for Just 15% of The Population appeared first on The China Africa Project . source https://chinaafricaproject.com/2021/02/23/the-economist-half-of-...

The Chinese government has been characteristically mute on the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia since fighting broke out last November. This is by no means surprising, given that the Chinese foreign ministry does its level best to avoid commenting on conflicts in other countries which it regards as the internal affairs of that state. More importantly, Beijing wants to avoid creating an opening for other powers, namely the U.S. and Europe, to comment on domestic issues in China. So,  it was a bit surprising that a Chinese state-owned media channel raised the issue at the Foreign Ministry’s regular press briefing in Beijing . Spokesperson Wang Wenbin’s answer was wholly unremarkable, but it was interesting that the issue was raised at all. Beijing Media Network: The international community is increasingly paying attention to the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region after the conflict. The Ethiopian government said that it is focusing on rebuilding the Tigray...

The reality that China and Russia together have distributed almost a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines lingered over Friday’s virtual G7 summit. While attendees expressed concern about the unfair distribution of vaccines, ironically brought on by hoarding in their countries,  the leaders from the world’s wealthiest countries did little more than make vague promises to provide additional funding  to initiatives like the global Covax alliance that distributes vaccines to the poor countries. But French President Emmanuel Macron gave voice to what may be an even more pressing concern for the other six members of this elite club when  he told the Financial Times  that China and Russia are leveraging the current vaccine crisis to their geopolitical advantage.  “It’s an unprecedented acceleration of global inequality and it’s politically unsustainable too because it’s paving the way for a war of influence over vaccines,”  Macron said . “You can see the Chinese s...

A trio of Wall Street Journal reporters in Asia and Africa have compiled what is the most detailed report of China’s burgeoning vaccine logistics and distribution operation that’s now ramping up from hubs in Ethiopia and Dubai among other places.  Last November, Ethiopian Airlines and Cainiao, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, unveiled plans to build an air bridge linking China and Africa to provide a secure cold chain to distribute hundreds of millions of jabs.  Earlier this month , the two companies announced that the first flight of the new partnership transited through Addis Ababa on its way to Chad to deliver a shipment. But other than those two announcements, little else is known about the partnership or how it will operate. The WSJ report highlights the considerable investment that Chinese and Ethiopian stakeholders are making in this new cold chain distribution network and the accompanying risks. Key Highlights From the WSJ’s Report on China’s S...

China’s ambassador to Algeria Li Lianhe announced late last week that Beijing would donate 200,000 doses of vaccines manufactured by Sinopharm.  This is the second shipment of Chinese jabs to Algeria following of vaccines in January from CanSino.    (CGTN AFRICA) Other Chinese Vaccine Headlines From Throughout the Global South: AFRICA:  Chinese ambassador to Namibia announced late last week that Beijing would donate 100,000 doses to the health ministry in Windhoek.  (XINHUA) AMERICAS:  Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed on Saturday that 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines arrived on Saturday.  (REUTERS) EURASIA:  Health Minister Fahrettin Koca declared that Turkey would purchase 105 million doses before the end of April from both Sinovac and Germany’s BioNTech.  (REUTERS) ASEAN:  The Philippines approved Sinovac’s coronavirus vaccines for emergency use, ahead of the expected delivery of 600,000 doses. ...

Less than one week after Zimbabwe took delivery of 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China, the government announced an additional 75,000 are on their way from India . Even though vaccines are now starting to make their way into people’s arms, it may be a while before the public gets inoculated, given that these initial batches are reserved for frontline healthcare workers, security personnel and government officials. W atch the full report on the Al Jazeera English 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 Zimbabwe Embarks on National Vaccination Drive With Donated Sinopharm Jabs appeared first o...

Rwanda’s Finance Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana and Chinese ambassador Rao Hongwei announced on Friday that Beijing would forgive $6 million of debt and provide a new $60 million grant to the government in Kigali as part of COVID-19 relief efforts. If the debt forgiveness portion of the announcement sounds modest, it’s because Rwanda doesn’t actually borrow that much from China. Chinese loans account for less than 5% of the country’s outstanding debt stock, according to the Ministry of Finance in Kigali. R ead the full story on the New Times website. 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 Provides Modest Debt Rel...

China’s top diplomat for Sub-Saharan Africa, Wu Peng, revealed the final two-way China-Africa trade figure for 2020 that came in at $187 billion. All things considered given the massive economic disruptions that occurred last year in both regions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that’s a rather respectable number given that it was just shy of 2019’s $192 billion and more than the $185 billion in 2018. 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-Africa Trade Held Up Last Year Despite the Pandemic appeared first on The China Africa Project . source https://chinaafricaproject.com/2021/02/22/china-africa-trade-held-...

China is escalating its criticism of wealthy countries, predominantly in North America and Europe, for hoarding the world’s supply of COVID-19 vaccines at the expense of developing nations in the Global South.  Foreign Minister Wang Yi was unsparing yesterday at a virtual UN Security Council meeting  when he said the international community is failing a “moral test” by the fact that just 16% of the world’s population in rich countries has reportedly bought 70% of the available COVID vaccines. “Rather than figuring out ways to get the vaccine to the rest of the world faster, they (rich countries) are squabbling amongst themselves over who will be first in line,”  said Wang according to a read-out of his comments by CGTN . Wang’s comments appear to be an evolution of China’s vaccine diplomacy drive, with Beijing leveraging its recent success in delivering millions of jabs to dozens of developing countries around the world. So long as the U.S. and Europe continue to gobble...

200,000 doses of vaccines arrived from China in the Senegalese capital Dakar late Wednesday night. This is the country’s first batch of jabs, which cost $3.7 million to secure — that’s a pricey $19 per injection. Senegal is also scheduled to receive around 1.3 million doses from the global Covax alliance. Those jabs are expected to arrive sometime in late February or early March.  (REUTERS) Other Chinese Vaccine Headlines From Across the Global South : AFRICA:  Less than a week after Zimbabwe took delivery of vaccines from Sinopharm, Harare plans to approve another Chinese jab from Sinovac.  (BLOOMBERG) EURASIA:  Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday that 100 million doses of China’s CoronaVac vaccine will be delivered by the end of April.  (HURRIYET DAILY NEWS) ASIA:   Nepal’s national drug regulatory authority granted emergency authorization for the use of Sinopharm’s vaccination, clearing the way for the Chinese gov...

It’s interesting to note how  China’s vaccine distribution throughout the developing world  also seems to align with the regions where China does the most trade. Southeast Asia is by far China’s top trading partner in the Global South, MENA is obviously important for its oil and gas supplies while South America, Brazil in particular, does a third more trade with China than Africa does. That said, conclusions about how China’s political and economic agenda correlates with its vaccine distribution priorities remain entirely speculative. Chinese officials have not revealed what the criteria are for countries to receive vaccines. 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 SU...

There’s been a discernable change over the past week in China’s messaging on vaccine distribution around the world. Both Chinese officials and state media are declaring they’ve made good on President Xi Jinping’s promise to make vaccines a “global public good.” “China provides vaccines to more places, fulfills promise,”  declared the tabloid newspaper Global Times on Wednesday , echoing sentiments expressed by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin. 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 Does a Victory Lap Over Its Promise to Make COVID-19 Vaccines Available as a “Global Public Good” appeared first on The China Afr...

Three decades after the last Cold War ended, African leaders are understandably concerned they’ll once again get swept up in great power rivalry, this time between the United States and China. But there’s little indication that either Washington or Beijing has any plans to make Africa a primary battleground in their increasingly acrimonious feud. Instead, Southeast Asia is now emerging as the primary front in this burgeoning great power rivalry. And as the new Biden administration recalibrates U.S. foreign policy to dedicate less attention to China in places like Africa, there’s growing pressure on the White House and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to focus more of its resources on confronting China in the ASEAN region. Beyond the obvious good luck for African stakeholders that their countries may avoid becoming ensnared in this fight, they also have the opportunity to closely observe how the U.S, China and the ten ASEAN countries position themselves and then apply those lessons t...

Kenya’s parliament approved funds to extend the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha in the Rift Valley all the way to Malaba on the border with Uganda. Several years ago, this extension was known as “SGR Phase 3.” President Uhuru Kenyatta’s requests for the financing of this phase were famously rejected (twice) by China. This time, the Kenyan government will be underwriting the construction cost itself and at a considerably lower price. The China Road and Bridge Corporation, the same Chinese state-owned contractor that built the first two phases of the SGR, was selected by Kenya Railways to build the 23.5-kilometer extension too.  (KENYANS.CO.KE) Other China-Kenya Infrastructure Headlines: RAILWAYS:  The Kenyan government is threatening to expel the China Communications Construction Company, parent company of the China Road and Bridge Corporation that built the SGR and the new Nairobi Expressway among other projects, for failing to properly register its business license....