Browsing: China in Africa

• A total of 77 people, including 22 Chinese and a Cameroonian, all suspects in an elaborate cybercrime ring in Zambia targeting thousands of people across the world, have been arrested in a crackdown. 
• Masquerading as call centre agents, Zambian youth were recruited into conning people via Telegram and WhatsApp platforms.
• Authorities in Zambia say the scam affected people in Singapore, Peru, the UAE, and some African countries.

In Zambia’s posh Roma district, the morning African sun barely peeked through the offices of Golden Top Support Services. This company had promised scores of respectable jobs to young Zambians as call centre agents.

Instead, it had covertly plunged them into the depths of a sprawling cybercrime syndicate. This chilling reality came to light following a decisive raid led by the country’s Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), exposing a narrative that conjures up the global challenges of cybercrime.

This operation was a huge score …

• Every so often, Africa is being forced to choose sides between China, Russia, and the West. 
• However, to win big, Africa must speak in one voice and trade as a unit in the new world order
• What’s more, Africa’s vas resource endowments can strengthen the continent’s resilience of its Transatlantic Alliance.

From friend-shoring brought about by COVID-19, then the Russia-Ukraine war, and now escalations in conflict in the Gaza strip, a new world order is taking shape, and Africa must align itself.

The big question for Africa is who to ally with and who to forego. Alignments with China are almost unavoidable, yet they place African economies at loggerheads with the West. While support for Israel pays off, it turns African countries into easy targets for the increasingly complex terror networks taking root on the continent.

Then there is the need to diversify sources of food and fertilizer imports, and …

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.…

China has a well-established presence on the African continent. On the positive side, a lot of infrastructure development taking place is a direct result of Chinese funding. In addition, several big Chinese companies have taken root in Africa becoming significant contributors to employment and GDP. Examples include Citic Constructions, Sunshine group, and FAW. Mckinsey and Company research group estimates that in 2012 there were over 10000 Chinese-owned companies operating in Africa, the number has since increased. 

However, there has long been suspicion around Chinese funding, especially through debt as most deals are shrouded in mystery and hidden behind closed doors. One example is Zambia’s current debt conundrum, in which reports indicate the country owes China large sums of money but circumstances around the debt are unclear in terms of the duration and the cost. 

Additionally, indications are that some of the debt facilities come with collateralized arrangements in which Africa …

Uganda’s Cabinet agreed to borrow about €108 million from China for the construction of oil roads.

Uganda’s government will borrow the money from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to finance the construction of Hohwa-Nyairongo-Kyarusesa-Butoole and Masindi-Biiso, Kabaale-Kiziranfumbi roads.

“Upgrading and constructing the national oil roads will facilitate the efficient development of the strategic national oil resources,” said Denis Katungi, Uganda Media Centre communications and media relations manager.
Mr Katungi did not give more information on the interest rate the government will pay on the loan or the loan period.

Also Read: Uganda’s economy growing but not braced for shocks, says World Bank

He also added that the upgrade will add to the network of road infrastructure required for the movement of construction materials, consumables and workers from other parts of the country to the oil region.

Early last year, Uganda’s government signed a contract with China Railway Seventh …

The Chinese government offered Ghana a grant of $42.62 million for economic and technical projects implementation.

The economic and technical cooperation agreement was signed on Thursday by Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Wang Shiting and Kenneth Ofori-Atta Ghana’s Finance Minister.

This follows Madam Sun Chunlan China’s First Premier visit to Ghana where she had promised to give the grant to finance some economic and technical projects.

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta commended the Chinese government for its continuous support to Ghana during the signing ceremony in Accra

Also Read: Ghana hosts key African Continental Free Trade Area meetings

“We would like to acknowledge the immense support the government of the People’s Republic of China has provided Ghana over the decades especially in the areas of infrastructure, information communication technology, trade and investment, tourism and education including technical vocation education training,” he said.

Mr Ofori-Atta said the grant would be used …