Browsing: China

While Russia’s preferred visions and modes of action in the Maghreb seem to be fairly well identified, the perceptions and expectations, but also the possible reservations on the Maghreb are more rarely expressed by the leaders of these countries and little-studied at the academic level.

Perhaps we should look at this, as far as the powers that be are concerned, a concern for discretion regarding the sensitive aspects of this foreign policy component – this is particularly true for Algeria – an area on which they generally communicate little and for the academic research community in North Africa, a lack of knowledge related to the history, geography and culture of contemporary Russia.

If there is undoubtedly, on the Maghreb side and with important nuances from one country to another, a manifest interest in a development or a deepening of the partnership with Moscow, questions may remain about Russia’s objectives, especially …

Tanzania railway investment

Tanzania Railway Investment

In the most recent development, an additional 282km of the railway are been constructed to connect Tanzania and Burundi giving the latter access to East Africa’s biggest and busiest port.

The construction is an extension of the already laid down Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Tanzania. The two governments have signed an agreement that paves way for new rail to be laid at a sum of US$900 million.

What does this extension mean for Burundi and how will it benefit Tanzania?  

Apart from the obvious economic benefits, lets first consider the small towns through which the railway snakes. From Tanzania’s little town of Uvinza in Kigoma region to the bustling capital city of Gitega in Burundi, the railway is expected to spark life, rejuvenate slowed businesses and build new people relations.

None said it better than Burundian Minister for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning Domitien Ndihokubwayo who

In the first six months of the year, Kenya’s food imports had increased to sh103.34 billion. The figures collected by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) showed that the food imports were sh12.35 billion more than the amount spent in the same period in 2020.

According to data from the national treasury, import expenditure increased by 29 per cent in the third quarter of 2021. China is the most significant contributor of Kenyan imports accounting for 31.6 per cent of the total bill from the Asian continent.

This is the fastest growth in the food import bill since a 60 per cent jump recorded in 2016 when the bill stood at sh82.83 billion. The exponential increase has been linked to the growing popularity of digital trading, allowing retailers and consumers to order and ship food and other commodities directly.…

A dollar is trading at 16.67 Kwacha and 13.35 Seychelles rupees as at December 31. Both countries were among the three worst performers in 2020.
This has fueled speculation from corporate participants and currency retail traders on when exactly to exit foreign currency risks for dollar hoarders or whether to buy the Kwacha as a safer haven store for value.
President Hichilema’s government is in the process of reworking as much as $17 billion in external public debt. He has submitted an endorsement request to the IMF as his administration advances talks with creditors from US$3 billion in Eurobond holders to US$5.8 billion owed to the Republic of China.…

China actively honours its commitment to making vaccines a global public good. At the time when Chinese vaccines had just reached the market and domestic supply was tight, China began to supply vaccines to Africa in support of its battle against the pandemic.
By November 2021, China had provided over 1.7 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine to more than 110 countries and organizations, including 50 African countries and the AU Commission, and is striving to provide an aggregate total of two billion doses by the end of 2021.
In addition, it donated US$100 million to COVAX, which aims at ensuring all countries have access to a safe, effective vaccine.…

Huawei puts China in a data superiority position in its involvement in countries’ sensitive information. 

China is establishing dominance in digital models. In June, Nigeria banned and dumped Twitter in the country, and has drawn parallels with China in their censorship model development. 

According to Abishek, the data centre in Senegal is one of the many being built by Chinese firms to help Africa keep up with social and economic changes that are pressuring the infrastructure on the continent. …

The World Bank released the country’s 18th Economic update in the first week of this month.

According to the institution, the change was majorly impacted by improvement in road and bridge building, the acquisition of additional aircraft for the continued revival of Uganda Airlines, and large classified investments.

Uganda has in the recent past heavily deployed and channelled its national cake towards improving its shambled infrastructure especially the road, railway, water and air transport systems.…

The pursuit of a greener earth and universal reliance on renewable presents a unique dilemma for countries in Sub Saharan Africa which rely heavily on energy provided by coal, shale, and other fossil fuels but also their economic livelihoods depend on the black gold.
The elimination of coal and related energy sources would severely prejudice economies that constitute SSA which are still developing or emerging.
It is against this background that the outgoing Chief Executive of the largest coal miner on the JSE, who is also the President of the Minerals Council is on record for saying that African countries should be allowed to make the transition from fossil fuels to greener renewable energies at their own pace.…

Egypt-China ongoing cooperation hits $1.8 billion according to Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation.

According to a press statement from the ministry, the cooperation is directed towards the execution of several development projects across various sectors such as education, electricity, technical education, health and agriculture.

Egypt has carried out over 1,100 training programs with China over a period of four years which has benefited over 4,000 government officials. This is in addition to 25 training programs in high priority fields which benefited government units in the fields of health, water resources, population and agriculture.

Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat said that the ministry is keen on enhancing the exchange of knowledge, technical assistance and expertise within the framework of its international partnerships with multilateral and bilateral development partners while supporting the country’s vision in building human capacity.

The ministry is working towards advancing economic cooperation with bilateral and multilateral …

Is China is fueling Africa’s economy? That could be a question with so many angles to explore – such as  is it worth it for Africa to accept humongous loans from the industrial giant amid her journey to prosperity while opening doors for her nations to invest and heavily mark China’s ingenuity across continent-wide African infrastructure?  

China, one of the world’s top economies provides eight types of foreign aid: complete projects, goods and materials, technical cooperation, human resource development cooperation, medical assistance, emergency humanitarian aid, volunteer programs, and debt relief (Brookings). 

The World Bank has been ousted by China as the world’s largest bilateral creditor, making China the largest single country creditor on Planet Earth (The African Report, 2021). 

In a larger context, Africa is now heavily being catered for financially by China. According to a report by The African Report, which cited data from China-Africa Initiative, between the