Rajpriya Gautam

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva flatly rejected China’s demand for multilateral development banks (MDBs) to accept losses or “haircuts” for loans to the world’s poorest countries. “Not possible” she bluntly declared in an interview with Bloomberg  following this weekend’s G20 finance ministers and central bank leaders meeting in India. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/28/imf-head-flatly-rejects-chinas-call-for-multilateral-development-banks-to

The  German government  is advocating on behalf of Ghana for China to stop stalling in the creation of a new Creditor Committee that will restructure Accra’s debts. Last week, Ghana officially became the second African country in the post-pandemic era to default on some of its commercial debts after it  missed a $40.6 million payment to bondholders . 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/28/germanys-ambassador-to-ghana-explains-why-he-thinks-china-is-hesitating-to-set-up-a-creditor-

France needs to approach Africa with ‘ profound humility ’ to make up for its colonial past. This is the message from French President Emmanuel Macron, who is embarking on an African tour in part  aimed at  rejuvenating Paris’s engagement with a continent where its image remains shaped by its colonial and military ties. Macron announced that France  plans to  diminish its military presence on the continent. It plans to replace its bases with military “academies” co-run with African armies. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More

Kenya’s outgoing ambassador to China, Mary Muthoni, is leaving her post after only ten months on the job, far less than her predecessor, who spent three years in Beijing. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi did not explain what prompted Muthoni’s departure and why she is leaving after less than a year in her post. Nor did the Ministry provide any details as to who President William Ruto will name as her replacement.  (THE STANDARD) 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/28/ken

There was a hint of optimism going into Saturday’s debt roundtable organized by India, the World Bank and the IMF that the U.S. and China might be able to find some common ground. Deputy-level officials from both countries met on Friday,  according to Reuters , to discuss their respective positions on debt relief for developing countries ahead of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Finance Minister Liu Kun’s participation the following day in the roundtable. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsout

The burgeoning debt crisis in a growing number of African countries is increasingly seen by the Chinese government as another front in Beijing’s competition with Western powers like the U.S. A recent article published earlier this month by the official Xinhua news agency provides crucial insights into how the government is framing the issue. Overall, China is framed as the victim of Western slander and the U.S. and European countries are framed as actually to blame for the continent’s financial woes. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn

If China is successful in its effort to force multilateral development banks (MDB) like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to accept the same kind of writedowns (known as ‘haircuts’) on loans to poor countries as other lenders, it would endanger the entire global development finance system. So argues the prominent Africa analyst Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD). Moore  laid out the threat in a CGD blog post published on Friday  that explored the question “will China play its part in addressing African debt distress?” 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 $19/mo OR

The Tanzanian government approved the construction of a new $3.5 billion pipeline as part of the controversial Sino-French East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) . The 1,443km pipeline will transport crude from new oil fields in Uganda, currently being developed by Chinese oil major CNOOC and France’s TotalEnegies.  (AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE) Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo met with one of China’s top foreign policy officials, Fu Ying, for what he called a “candid exchange” about a recent incident between their Coast Guards in the South China Sea.  Fu, a former ambassador to Manila, did not comment on the discussion held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.  (MANILA BULLETIN) 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. Chi

The dispute between China and Western lenders about how Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) should take part in debt restructuring goes beyond current U.S.-China tensions. Rather, it relates to the fundamental question of how to fund development, rooted in much broader differences between the Global North and the Global South. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/23/sharply-contrasting-views-on-whether-china-is-right-to-demand-multilateral-development-banks-to-take-losses-on-thei

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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/23/what-is-xi-jinpings-global-security-initiative-new-government-document-gives-clues/

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will meet with Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun on Friday for what’s been described as “ a last-ditch effort ” to get Beijing to align with Colombo’s other creditors for desperately-needed debt relief. The two will talk on the sidelines of this week’s G20 finance ministers meeting in Bangalore, India . 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/22/sri-lanka-president-to-meet-with-chinese-finance-minister-in-bid-to-unblock-debt-relief/

Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta will head to Beijing on Friday in a bid to re-negotiate Accra’s $1.7 billion debt owed to Chinese creditors. The West African country has already defaulted on some of its commercial debt and it’s now trying to restructure what it owes to bilateral creditors, including China. This bilateral debt amounts to $5.7 billion. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/22/ghanas-finance-minister-will-go-to-beijing-this-week-seeking-debt-relief/

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to China earlier this month, when he met with his counterpart Xi Jinping, drew a lot of international attention. However, Chinese experts differ sharply from their international counterparts on what was achieved. Commentators in China, not surprisingly, play down the many tensions inherent to the relationship and frame any problems as the result of Western dominance. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/22/chinese-international-analysts-diffe

Vulnerable societies like Zambia could be crushed if geopolitics are allowed to hijack debt renegotiation processes. So warns the Africa-China and debt expert Deborah Brautigam in a recent article in Foreign Affairs. The article is very useful for those following the debt crisis. It provides an account of the complexities informing the different positions in the current debt controversy. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/21/toxic-politics-to-blame-if-g20s-debt-relief-efforts-fai

China should respond to pressures from the United States and its allies by building a new global system based on coalitions with Global South countries.  So argues  Yang Ping, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the influential magazine Beijing Cultural Review. An edited translation  of Yang’s remarks were recently published in Thomas des Garets Geddes’s  Sinification  newsletter. The piece provides useful insights into the centrality of the Global South in China’s plans to counter U.S. alliance-building and the targeting of China’s chip industry. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings)

The International Monetary Fund may have found a way to unblock  the impasse with China that’s blocked Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion emergency financial package . The IMF,  according to Bloomberg , is actively considering invoking a rarely used policy that allows the fund to issue loans even if a borrower’s other creditors are not fully aligned, as is the case with Sri Lanka. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/20/imf-considers-circumventing-china-for-sri-lankas-emergency-debt-relief/

The South African navy kicked off ten days of drills in the Indian Ocean on Friday with visiting warships from Russia and China. The naval exercises, known as Operation Mosi II, have sparked considerable outrage among civil society groups and opposition politicians in South Africa, along with the ire of U.S. and European governments who have criticized Pretoria for hosting the Russians during the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/20/so

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for a three-day official visit that will include a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.  Iran is looking to bolster ties with China amid growing concerns Beijing is prioritizing its relations with Tehran’s Persian Gulf rivals UAE and Saudi Arabia.  (XINHUA) The China Association for Disaster Prevention is calling for a halt in all deployments of Chinese rescue personnel to Turkey and Syria.  With more than 79,000 people now on scene in the earthquake zones in both countries, including dozens from China, the association said it’s concerned more Chinese staff sent to the region would burden local governments.  (GLOBAL TIMES) 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. Ch

The Chinese government re-stated on Wednesday that it will not move forward with the Sri Lankan debt restructuring process unless both commercial creditors and multilateral development banks also agree to accept losses on their loans. Ministry officials told Reuters that Spokesperson Wang Wenbin’s statement at yesterday’s press briefing in Beijing will be the last word on the issue  until after a series of G20 meetings on the debt crisis. The first is scheduled for Friday. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://

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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/16/wang-yi-makes-unannounced-visit-to-uzbekistan-on-his-way-to-europe/

The Indian government called on China to stop blocking the debt restructuring process for the world’s poorest countries, adding to the pressure on Beijing ahead of a critical meeting with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Friday. Amitabh Kant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s point person (or “sherpa”) in coordinating G20 events India is hosting this year,  told Bloomberg China’s insistence that multilateral development banks (MDBs) like the World Bank and IMF accept write-downs on their loans is unacceptable : 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber

30-year Ugandan immigrant Rose is now a full-fledged social media star on China’s TikTok equivalent Douyin. Now, with more than a million followers and almost 200 million likes, Rose (who doesn’t reveal her last name) has become one of China’s most popular food vloggers. Rose came from a poor family in Uganda and went to work when she was younger at a Chinese-owned furniture factory. One of the expatriate staff there introduced Rose to a relative back in China, Wu Jianyu. The meeting quickly bloomed into a long-distance relationship. 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 $19/mo OR Yearly $199/yr (17% Savings) Already a subsc

China’s dispute with the Bretton Woods institutions dates back to at least the Obama era.  The U.S. Congress  refused to ratify a 2010 plan to recapitalize the IMF, which would have given large emerging economies enhanced voting rights because it could have affected the U.S.’s veto vote. The measure , which also included Brazil, Russia and India in the top ten, was finally passed in 2016, but subsequent reform attempts  faced similar pressure  from the United 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 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 source https://chinag

As China struggles with the fallout from infrastructure lending, it’s also trying out new ways of financing projects. A fascinating new paper by the prominent Africa-China expert Hong Zhang details a shift from a model where Chinese companies facilitate financing but their role is limited to engineering, procurement and construction, to one where they’ll take a stake in running the infrastructure once it’s completed. 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 source https://chinaglobalsouth.com/2023/02/14/lekki-port-points-to-new-

Chinese-financed railways in Asia and Africa have sparked enormous controversies over whether it was wise for countries like Kenya, Indonesia, Nigeria and Laos to put themselves in so much debt for infrastructure that will take decades to become profitable, if it ever does. While a lot of stakeholders in these countries have raised those concerns, Chinese officials and scholars are especially piqued when these barbs come from critics in the U.S. and Europe. 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 Chinese Scholar on Why R

The first shipment of Australian coal in two years will soon be offloaded in China, offering evidence that trade ties between the two countries are thawing.  The shipment is anchored off the Chinese port of Zhanjiang, a major steel hub. China imposed a block on trade with Australia in 2020, after then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19.  (BLOOMBERG) Southeast Asian foreign ministers met this weekend in Jakarta to negotiate a landmark code of conduct agreement between China and rival claimants in the South China Sea.  ASEAN chair Indonesia said it would host another round of talks on the issue again next month. (SOUTH CHINA MORNING 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

Emerging Chinese government messaging on debt is now showing up in African publications via state-owned media outlets like Xinhua. This comes as Beijing is increasingly focusing on the role of Western lenders in Global South debt distress.   WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?  China has been effective in building a large media distribution network in Africa that uses content-sharing agreements to disseminate writing from Chinese state-owned 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 Leverages African Media Outlets to Hit B

Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola  will set up  an agency to manage a logistics corridor linking them to Angola’s Lobito port. The move comes as South Africa’s Durban port has faced repeated delays. A concession  to manage the corridor was recently granted to Portugal’s Mota-Engil, which is  co-owned  by China Communications Construction Co. Lobito port itself  will be run  by the Chinese giants CITIC and Shandong Ports Group.  (CHINA-LUSOPHONE BRIEF) 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 New Copper/

China’s Hunan province has set up a  digital logistics hub  supporting Chinese companies’ trade with Africa. It’s focused on cross-border communications support and data-sharing between Chinese companies working in Africa.  WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?  Hunan is now a key player  in China’s agricultural trade with Africa via its regular trade fairs and massive support infrastructure. 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 Hunan Province Launches New China-Africa Digital Services Hub <div class="cap-padlock">

The Paris Club of wealthy creditor states  turned up the pressure on China to resolve the current impasse that’s blocking debt relief for Sri Lanka  and other developing countries. “The Paris Club members as well as Hungary and Saudi Arabia urged other official bilateral creditors, including China, to do the same in line with IMF program parameters as soon as possible,”  the group said in a statement released Tuesday. 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 Paris Club Calls Out China Over Sri Lankan Debt Relief <div c

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 Chinese Tourist Flight Given Hero’s Welcome in Cambodia <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="0 0 735 980" > <defs /><g transform="translate(-132.5,-10)"><g ><g ><g ><path fill="#c5c5c5" d="M 745,412.9 V 255 C 745,119.9 635.1,10 500,10 364.9,10 255,119.9 255,255 V 412.9 H 377.5 V 255 c 0,-67.6 54.9,-122.5 122.5,-122.5 67.5,0 122

South Africa is apparently not interested in conducting joint naval exercises with the United States, opting instead to proceed with controversial exercises later this month with both Russia and China. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Chase Patrick, Director, Maritime Headquarters, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa,  told reporters last week that his office has reached out on several occasions to the South African National Defence Force  to join them in regional exercises, but each time the offer is refused. 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 Mor

China Gezhouba Group Corp (CGGC) finished a  107.5km upgrade  of a rail line between the Namibian harbor Walvis Bay and the central logistics hub of Arandis on time, despite materials shortages and COVID-related delays. The upgrade doubles transport speeds on the line. The project  is an interesting counterexample to troubled rail deals like in  Pakistan  (see above) and  Kenya in that it’s  jointly funded  by the Namibian government and the African Development Bank (not Chinese lenders) and CGGC was  only assigned  part of the upgrade, with the rest going to a joint venture between the Chinese companies Qingjiang Group and Unik Construction Engineering. 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

China’s use of diplomatic junkets to justify its anti-Uyghur measures in Xinjiang to the Global South are  ratcheting up again . Ambassadors and other senior diplomats from Senegal, Benin, Mali, Rwanda, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda, Lesotho and Chad  visited the region  on Thursday. Judging by Global Times  (admittedly a weak measure), China’s framing of the large-scale Uyghur internment as counter-terrorism is finding an audience among these diplomats. It’s a revealing deviation from these countries’ oft-stated unwillingness to ‘choose sides’ in the U.S.-China standoff. 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 $1

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner is the latest high-ranking Western official to pressure China to do more to help relieve the burgeoning debt crisis in a growing number of African countries. “I remind China of its responsibilities as a very important bilateral creditor of Ghana,”  Lindner said on Friday during a visit to Ghana , where he met with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. 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 Germany’s Finance Minister Singles Out China in Debt

At first glance,  Ghana doesn’t owe China  that much when measured against its outstanding debts to both multilateral development banks like the IMF and the World Bank and, more importantly, bondholders. $1.7 billion in the context of what other developing countries owe Chinese creditors is actually quite modest. 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 How Much Ghana Owes China Depends on Who You Ask <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="

Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a noted sovereign debt expert, wrote a brief analysis of why the China Exim Bank’s offer of a two-year debt moratorium is “insufficient”. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity only) 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-IMF Impasse in Sri Lanka “Has to be Broken, One Way or Another,” Says Debt Expert <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="

A major philosophical difference is emerging as a hold-up to Zambia’s much-needed debt relief. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning  recently said  the key to easing Zambia’s debt burden “lies in the participation of multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors in the debt-relief efforts.” In other words, China wants Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) like the World Bank to accept losses. The MDBs have so far been exempted from ‘haircuts’ in debt restructuring processes. 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 Kremlin announced Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Moscow, although the Chinese Foreign Ministry hasn’t confirmed it yet.  The visit will partly aim to deny growing distance between the allies on the Ukraine conflict, although it is unlikely to change China’s fundamental position.  (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST) The United States is launching a partnership with India to compete against China on semiconductors, AI and military equipment.  The Biden administration also wants to promote Western phone companies in India, to counter the influence of Chinese telecoms like Huawei.  (REUTERS) 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. Monthl