Rajpriya Gautam

Increasing violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is raising alarm at the United Nations, with UN officials and Chinese envoys both calling on the DRC government to improve governance. This follows a  UN Security Council briefing  on Tuesday by Bintou Keita, the head of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO.) She reported that 2,300 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the year in the provinces of North and South Kivu and Ituri. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China, UN Con

The government of Cameroon is  looking for funding  for the third phase of a Huawei-built solar energy project that will connect 1,000 communities. The project started in 2017. The first phase was financed through a Huawei buyer’s credit, and the second via a loan from the Bank of China. The fact that the government is now looking more widely for phase 3 funding indicates the shakeup we’ve seen in Chinese infrastructure financing in the Global South over the last few years, as policy banks have increasingly cut funding.  Recent research  by Boston University shows that Chinese policy banks extended no new overseas energy loans last year. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

China is leaning into its relationship with Russia, with a  meeting between foreign ministers  Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday. After the meeting, Lavrov said the two countries will: “move towards a multipolar, equitable, democratic world order.” The two met in Tunxi, Anhui Province, where China is hosting a multinational meeting on the humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan. It was Lavrov’s first trip to China since the invasion. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China Leans into Russia Ties, Glo

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken  wrapped up a tour of the Middle East with a visit to Algeria on Wednesday . The highlight of the tour was an unprecedented summit in Israel with Arab foreign ministers. However, the trip was overshadowed by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, with Blinken campaigning for support among Middle East and North African countries for support in blocking Russia and trying to mobilize more oil and gas supplies to lessen Europe’s dependence on Russian fuel. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The p

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare  hit out at critics of the Pacific Island nation’s recent security deal with China . The contract of the deal  was recently leaked , raising alarm in New Zealand and Australia about a possible Chinese military presence in the region. Addressing the Parliament, Sogavare said: “We find it very insulting, Mister Speaker, to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs.” … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Solomon Islands Claps Back at Australia for China Pressure

Leaders of 17 political parties from 16 African countries  participated in a video conference on Tuesday hosted by the Communist Party of China (CPC) . While the theme “Modernization in line with national conditions: the exploration and practice of political parties in China and Africa” seems a bit of a snooze, these kinds of events are key to Chinese influence-building in the Global South. Unlike many other major powers, Chinese diplomacy runs on both a country-to-country and a party-to-party tier. It allows the CPC to build relationships with counterparts overseas and simultaneously provides Beijing with a valuable hedge against sudden changes in power by shaping relations with both incumbent and opposition parties in key states. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and thr

Threats from China are emerging as a common theme across different U.S. Commands at the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearings. The issue of China’s influence in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)  was raised by  General Laura Richardson, the head of the U.S. South Command, during a session that included her colleague Air Force General Glen D. VanHerck, who leads the U.S. North Command. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China’s Influence a Key Theme of Senate Armed Services Committee Testimony on Latin

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the most powerful state body overseeing economic planning, released a new set of guidelines on Monday that will shape the Belt and Road Initiative over the next decade. These guidelines put green development at the center of the BRI. They set 2025 as the target for the implementation of shared green norms with BRI partner countries, and 2030 for fully implementing green standards across all aspects of the BRI, including trade, energy, and transportation. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click

China’s government-owned nationalist tabloid  Global Times has hit back  at comments by Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi (photo) that Japan will help developing countries out of China’s ‘debt traps.’ GT called the debt trap allegation “an insult to developing countries,” and said: “the so-called “debt trap” is nothing but a lie fabricated by Western countries to smear and disrupt a deepening economic and trade relationship between China and developing countries.” … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Global

When Kenya embarked on its national infrastructure development agenda back in the early 2000s, policymakers didn’t have a lot of options when it came to financing. Traditional lenders weren’t interested and the cost of borrowing from banks was too expensive. Enter the Chinese, who United States International University-Africa professor Elijah Munyi told a national radio audience  on Spice FM’s popular morning show “The Situation Room”  had the capital and, more importantly, the risk appetite to finance the country’s railways, ports, and roads. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Alre

As many as twelve countries could default on their loans this year,  a senior World Bank economist warned in a blog post on Monday . Marcello Estevão, the WB’s Global Director for Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment, said the crisis in Ukraine is a final shock that could nudge many developing countries into crisis. This follows slowly-building debt crises (see graph) accelerated by the global pandemic. He acknowledged that the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) has largely failed as a tool to tide vulnerable economies over. However, he insisted that its successor, the Common Framework for Debt Treatments “is the only game in town,” despite the fact that only three countries have signed up to date. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global So

The lure of greater access to the DR Congo’s vast copper and cobalt reserves is drawing more Chinese mining companies to expand their investments in the country. Mining giant Minmetals Resources on Monday announced a $600 million deal to expand copper and cobalt extraction from its Kinsevere mine near the southern city of Lubumbashi. The cash infusion will increase the mine’s lifespan by about 13 years. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China’s Minmetals Doubles Down on DRC Cobalt appeared first on The China Afr

Li Lianhe, China’s ambassador to Algeria, is the sixth Chinese ambassador wrapping up his tour of duty to Africa. He joins his colleagues in  Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Namibia, and Gabon who have finished their tours. سفير جمهورية الصين الشعبية، السيد لي ليان خه أدى لرئيس الجمهورية، السيد عبد المجيد تبون زيارة وداع بمناسبة انتهاء مهامه بالجزائر. pic.twitter.com/2Iu8R3IfLu & … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post A Sixth Chinese Ambassador in Africa Says Farewell appeared first on The China Africa Project . sou

China’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun (left), traveled from Khartoum to Rabat late last week where he  held talks with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourtia  (right) in what appears to be a low-key meet ‘n greet regional tour. Over the last few days, Zhai has traveled to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, and now Morocco to meet with various leaders and stakeholders. However, his tour doesn’t seem to have a specific agenda. The readouts from all these meetings are  vague and lack any specifics . … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click

Foreign intervention more than anything else is to blame for the current instability in the Horn of Africa (HoA), according to Xue Bing, China’s Special Envoy for the region. Xue made the remarks during a small press briefing this weekend in Uganda  before leaving for the final stop of his nearly two-week tour of countries in the HoA. For the first time on this trip, Xue provided more details about the peace conference Beijing hopes to convene in the next few months – an idea he said has been well received by regional leaders: … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber?

China is leaning heavily into its ties among developing countries to build support for its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which Beijing feels is a proxy issue for Western militarism. The issue was a prominent under-current at last week’s meetings between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterparts from Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, and Zambia among others. The theme has also become far more prominent in recent days  on Chinese state-run media . … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China Rallies Countries in Af

China’s ambassador to the African Union, Liu Yuxi, is among the unusually large number of Chinese envoys on the continent who are  rotating out of their posts this month.  Liu joins Chinese ambassadors to  Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Namibia, and Gabon who have finished their tours. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China’s Ambassador to the African Union Among the Growing Number of Chinese Envoys Rotating Out of Their Posts appeared first on The China Africa Project . source https://chinaafricaproject.com/2022/03/

China’s once enormous global COVID vaccine distribution drive has effectively come to a halt this year,  according to new data published by the public health consultancy Bridge Consulting in Beijing . It’s not clear what prompted the sharp dropoff in vaccine deliveries, but it could complicate China’s  pledge to Africa to donate 1 billion doses before the end of the year . Last Fall,  Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the FOCAC conference in Senegal  that China would donate 600 million jabs and provide another 400 million from joint venture manufacturing facilities on the continent. But so far there are only two factories in Africa that produce Chinese vaccines, one in Egypt and the other in Morocco, and their output are in the tens of millions of jabs — far below the hundreds of millions that will be required for China to meet its goal. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-

Unsuspecting shoppers at the fish markets in the western Kenyan city of Kisumu on Lake Victoria have been buying frozen imported fish from China that’s being passed off by unscrupulous vendors as fresh catch. When reporters from The Standard newspaper approached some of the vendors  to ask whether they were selling imported Chinese fish they all said no but a glance beneath some of their stalls revealed boxes that clearly indicated their inventory was from China. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Frozen Imported

Xue Bing, China’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, is winding down his visit to the region with a  two-day stop in Uganda , after visiting Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya. His last stop before returning will be South Sudan. His tour  coincided with a visit to Sudan  by his colleague Zhai Jun, the Special Envoy for the Middle East. Xue’s appointment as Special Envoy raises questions about how he’ll interact with his U.S. counterpart, David Satterfield, Washington’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa. Satterfield  also visited the region this week , touching down in Addis Ababa on Monday to meet with officials from the Ethiopian government and the AU. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... fi

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (photo, second from left)  met with ambassadors  of the BRICS countries earlier this week to discuss the crisis in Ukraine. The meeting  formed part of Moscow’s campaign  to characterize the Western-led sanctions against Russia as unjust. The BRICS bloc, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is emerging as an axis resisting global pressure on Russia following the violent invasion of its neighbor. China, India, and South Africa abstained from  a UN vote in early March  condemning Russia, and  Brazil has vacillated  about its position.   … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Mo

An unusually large number of Chinese ambassadors announced this week they will be leaving their posts in at least four African countries. It’s just a coincidence that so many are happening at once and there is no indication that any of the envoys have been recalled. The countries the Chinese ambassadors will soon leave include: … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Four Different Chinese Ambassadors are Moving On appeared first on The China Africa Project . source https://chinaafricaproject.com/2022/03/24/four-di

Somalia is emerging as a focus for China,  following a meeting  between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Somali counterpart Abisaid Muse Ali on the sidelines of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Pakistan on Tuesday. This closer alignment also has implications for the United States. Accounts  of Wang’s meeting say the two discussed development, security, and “territorial integrity.” The latter is probably code for China’s support for Somalia’s opposition to an independence campaign by Somaliland. The territory has forged links with Taiwan, fueling closer coordination between Beijing’s ‘One China’ policy and Mogadishu’s ‘One Somalia’ policy. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South...

The conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University spent several months working with thirty civil society organizations from 24 African countries to produce a new handbook that is purportedly intended to help policymakers better understand the key issues related to China’s engagement in Africa. The 40-page report  by Glenn Tiffert, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and Oxford University doctoral candidate in Middle Eastern studies Oliver McPherson-Smith, provides a comprehensive overview of the key themes that frame the broader China-Africa relationship — however, their assessments are almost entirely negative. … Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscri

The retreat of the United States is causing a ‘wave of reconciliation’ in the Middle East and reorienting these countries towards China. So says Ding Long, a prominent professor at the Middle East Institute at Shanghai University of International Studies. Ding argued in an op-ed for the Chinese version of Global Times  that the thawing of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, or Israel and the United Arab Emirates, points to a wider move towards cooperation largely due to an American retreat from the region. He feels this shift is causing Middle East nations to look towards China, and that the recent  flurry   of Chinese   Mideast diplomacy  reflects a growing regional alignment with Chinese development-led models of peace-making. Ding Long’s View of the Middle East’s “Tide of Reconciliation”: DEVELOPMENT OVER CONFLICT:  “Middle Eastern countries are [becoming] aware that their infighting, provoked by foreign forces such as the United States, makes them pursue so-called securit

Washington’s former top diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, posted a highly misleading tweet on Tuesday that accused China of “hypocrisy” over remarks made by Chinese Special Envoy Xue Bing, who  told Daily Nation correspondent Aggrey Mutambo earlier  this week that “China will send out engineers and students. We don’t send out weapons” to the Horn of Africa. Nagy took issue with  China’s $5 million donation of military equipment to the Somali National Army  (SNA) on Friday, March 18 comprised of non-lethal material including ambulances, water trucks, landmine detectors, and medical/logistical materials.  This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Glo

Occasionally, China’s famously media-shy ambassadors in Africa come out of their shells and engage in surprisingly frank discussions on social media. Admittedly, it doesn’t happen very often but it did on Monday over on Fei Shengchao’s Twitter page when the Chinese envoy to Somalia responded to critical comments about Xinjiang and Taiwan. After a brief exchange about China’s treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority population, Somaliland freelance journalist Mohamed Amin commented on Taiwan. Fei, uncharacteristically calmly for a Chinese official in this day and age, laid out Beijing’s position on the issue in clearer language than usual. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagem

The growing excitement in the Kenyan capital about the upcoming inauguration of its new Chinese-built Nairobi Expressway is also spawning a flurry of viral rumors. On Tuesday, The Standard newspaper  published a fact-check article  that debunked reports that the expressway has already opened to traffic. This followed widely circulated images that seemed to show cars testing out the almost-completed road. With the excitement has come controversy about the cost of the project to consumers. This is because the road was funded through a public-private partnership that will allow the contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation, to collect tolls. This raised concern that the road will only be accessible to the rich,  amid reports  that the tolls could be as high as $14. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insigh

The reluctance by about half of African countries to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now being leveraged by media outlets closely aligned with the government and the Party as a way to bolster its own position on the issue with domestic audiences. Two articles in China’s state press, one from the country’s preeminent broadcaster  CCTV  and the other in  the nationalist publication The Observer  (观察), frame the Western campaign for support of Ukraine as unwarranted pressure on weak countries to join sides in a faraway conflict. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s

China’s growing relationship with Africa is crucial for attaining its wider global goals, according to veteran diplomat Kuang Weilin, China’s first ambassador to the African Union, and a highly-regarded commentator on African affairs in China. Kuang spoke recently at a policy forum organized by three of Shanghai’s leading international affairs think tanks  that included the influential Shanghai Institute of International Studies. The fact that such prominent policy shops are engaging the likes of Kuang and other Africa scholars reveals that even amid the war in Ukraine and worsening relations with the United States there’s an ongoing effort to ensure that Africa remains a priority in the Chinese policymaking process. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relatio

The world’s poorest countries will pay about $52.8 billion in debt servicing costs this year, of which 26% ($13.7 billion) will go to Chinese lenders,  according to a new report  released on Monday by the Green Finance and Development Center at Fudan University in Shanghai. The report, by Mengdi Yue and Christoph Nedopil Wang, shows that China’s lending to developing countries is only outstripped by that of the World Bank’s International Development Association. The collective debt burden facing the world’s 68 low-income countries rose by 12%, to a record $860 billion in 2020. Compared to 2015, the number of these countries showing signs of debt distress has doubled. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides da

Nigeria’s total public debt stood at $94.7 billion in 2021, up from $78.9 billion the previous year. Patience Oniha, the head of the country’s Debt Management Office (DMO)  briefed journalists  last Thursday in Abuja. Compared to other African finance ministries, Nigeria’s DMO has championed transparency, and these briefings demystify the country’s debt portfolio. Oniha said the increase in lending was in line with global trends, as countries struggle to deal with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. But she insisted that Nigeria is still within the IMF’s suggested 55% debt-to-GDP ratio, as well as the 40% limit set by the Nigerian government. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese

As concern grows as to how countries like Kenya will repay their loans to China, navigating misinformation about Chinese lending remains challenging. Johns Hopkins University Professor Deborah Brautigam, one of the world’s leading experts on Chinese lending to Africa, unpacked the issue in a public lecture on February 28 at New York’s Columbia University  that was just published on YouTube. Brautigam challenged many dominant ideas about Chinese lending, not least the ongoing ‘debt trap’ narrative – the idea that China plunges poor countries in debt on purpose in order to seize assets or build influence. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Gl

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s flurry of meetings with African stakeholders over the weekend was the top item of discussion at  Monday’s regular Foreign Ministry press briefing in Beijing . While most of the briefing with spokesperson Wang Wenbin focused on issues related to Ukraine, a question that was likely choreographed right at very beginning of the briefing provided him the chance to repeat Wang’s earlier statement on the importance of ensuring that African issues do not get overlooked by the war in Europe: “The more turbulent the international situation is, the more we must pay attention to the voices of African countries and increase our support for and assistance to Africa.” This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News F

Two Chinese Special Envoys are currently touring Africa. Zhai Jun, China’s Special Envoy to the Middle East  arrived in Sudan late Monday night , his second visit there in a month. Zhai is currently on a week-long tour of Middle East and North African countries that included stops in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Meantime, his colleague, Horn of Africa Special Envoy Xue Bing is wrapping up his own tour of the region. Xue, together with Ambassador Zhou Pingjiang,  met with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo  at the State House in Nairobi. Earlier, Xue announced that China plans to convene a peace conference that both Ethiopia and Kenya have offered to host. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full

Products from 17 African countries  are being featured  at a trade show in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in a bid to introduce the continent’s specialties like wine, coffee, and tea, to Chinese consumers. The African Goods brand pavilion opened at Zhejiang Merchants University Pioneer Park and was marked with a live online sessions explaining and promoting the products to consumers, led by China-Africa Bridge, a company marketing African products in China.  This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly

South Africa’s zig-zagging response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appears to be straightening out with President Cyril Ramaphosa increasingly aligned with China’s stance on the issue. After initially condemning Moscow’s incursion, South Africa’s foreign ministry (DIRCO) denounced the Russian attack.  But things have changed a lot since then and both the Presidency along with the ruling ANC have made it clear that DIRCO’s statement did not represent the consensus view of the government. That sentiment was further articulated on Friday during the President’s call with his Chinese counterpart where he clearly sided with the Chinese — effectively ending any hope that South Africa would join a U.S.-European-led coalition to condemn and sanction Russia. This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key tr

China’s newly-appointed Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (HoA), Xue Bing (photo), concluded the first portion of a week-long tour on Saturday with a stinging rebuke of U.S. and European-led diplomacy in the region.   “Some countries in this area [the Horn of Africa] are fed up with the foreign intervention, the preaching from Western countries,”  he told reporters at a press conference at the Chinese embassy . Instead, not surprisingly, he said the HoA leaders he met with last week told him that “China respects us, treats us as equals and so they want to see China play a more active and constructive role.” This marketing content will be shown in place of your protected content to anyone who is not allowed to read the post… Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout