Browsing: China-Africa Trade

• Africa received loans worth $4.6 billion from China last year, an increase from what economies across the continent received in 2022.
• This amount is, however, a far cry from Beijing’s massive infrastructure financing witnessed before the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Beijing will host African leaders for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation between September 4th-6th.

A total of nine countries in Africa received Chinese loans worth $4.6 billion last year, an increase from what economies across the continent received in 2022. However, this amount is a far cry from Beijing’s massive infrastructure financing that was witnessed before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new statistics from the Boston University Global Development Policy Centre come just days before Beijing hosts African leaders for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, scheduled for September 4th-6th.

In 2023, lenders from China processed approximately 13 loans targeting various projects across the continent with the biggest beneficiary being players in the financial …

• China’s economic slowdown will affect Africa since the Asian country is the largest single-country trading partner.
• As China experiences a notable economic slowdown, the IMF asserts that sub-Saharan African countries must proactively respond to the shifting geo-economic landscape.
• The IMF says a promising avenue lies in tapping into the robust demand for minerals crucial for renewable energy development.

China—Africa’s largest single-country trading partner—is experiencing an economic slowdown. And this matters a lot for policymakers in Africa. As China grapples with a second consecutive month of contracting manufacturing activity posted in November, the implications stretch far beyond the borders of the Asian country.

China’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stumbled to 49.4 in November, a slight dip from October’s 49.5, falling short of economists’ expectations of 49.7. This statistical swing around the pivotal 50-point mark, which separates contraction from expansion, paints a nuanced picture of an economy needing stimulus to revive growth …

Worth noting here is that Africa, including Ethiopia and most of its East African neighbours, are squirming in shipments of second-hand clothing, interestingly, imported from Europe, North America and other western countries.

What better defines neo-colonialism than Africa producing clothes to be exported to Europe and North America only for these very clothes to be sold back to Africa after they have been used! This sounds worse than the renowned exploitative colonial and post-colonial trade agreements (that still hold true and strong) where Africa, using cheap labour, produces raw material, which is cheaply exported to Europe, processed, packaged and sold back to Africa!

Several East African countries have attempted to honour up and ban the import of second-hand clothes. As you can imagine, the attempt failed.…

Stanbic Bank Kenya and Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have partnered with Chinese Trade Agent Zhejiang International Trading Supply Chain Co. Ltd (Guomao) to launch the Africa China Agent Proposition (ACAP) initiative. (https://navalpost.com/)

The initiative which has been launched in different parts of Africa aims to assist African importers source and validate quality goods, safely and efficiently, from the most competitive suppliers in China.

The ACAP offering is expected to revolutionize African importers’ view of China’s supplier universe. It will also ease the cash flow of African importers by providing access to financing while empowering importers with sight and control of the entire importing and logistics process.

It was initially launched in Nigeria and Ghana in May 2019 with roll out to South Africa and Kenya following.

Currently African importers order from only a handful of trusted Chinese suppliers. This limits the negotiating power of African importers …