China

The Husab uranium mine in western Namibia. 11 May 2018. Wu Changwei/Xinhua/REA

multiple agreements

From DRC to Madagascar, Japan weaves its web with critical metals

From exploration to exploitation, Japan has signed a series of contracts with three African countries to secure its supplies of critical minerals.

© President of China Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attend the China-Africa Leaders’ Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the BRICS Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alet Pretorius

Small Is Beautiful

China ramps up Africa engagement even as new lending drops Reduced volumes are not cause for alarm about the future of China-Africa relations, says Oyintarelado Moses of the Global China Initiative at the Bost...
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina in Antananarivo, 26 June 2021. (AFP/Rijasolo)

tainted friends

Premium badgeMadagascar: Rajoelina’s chief of staff charged with bribery Romy Voos Andrianarisoa and her business associate Philippe Tabuteau face up to 10 years in prison over soliciting bribes for a Gemfields contract.
© A fuel gauge shows a battery residual quantity meter in a BYD E6 electric car, used as a taxi in Shenzhen, at the taxi company’s car park, in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen June 15, 2011. A pioneering electric taxi project in China’s southern economic powerhouse of Shenzhen seems a success by most accounts. Riders are enthusiastic, there have been no accidents and drivers are termed “gracious,” not a term usually applied to mainland drivers. The pilot project, which could be replicated in other cities, underpins China’s ambitious plans to put at least half a million electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015. Picture taken June 15, 2011. To match Analysis ETAXIS/ REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

electric competition

Premium badgeMorocco-Algeria: Who will win the battle for Chinese electric batteries? Against the backdrop of Morocco’s negotiations with several major Chinese conglomerates for the establishment of a gigafactory, Xi Jinping has just pr...

China top stories

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina in Antananarivo, 26 June 2021. (AFP/Rijasolo)

tainted friends

Premium badgeMadagascar: Rajoelina’s chief of staff charged with bribery Romy Voos Andrianarisoa and her business associate Philippe Tabuteau face up to 10 years in prison over soliciting bribes for a Gemfields contract.
© A fuel gauge shows a battery residual quantity meter in a BYD E6 electric car, used as a taxi in Shenzhen, at the taxi company’s car park, in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen June 15, 2011. A pioneering electric taxi project in China’s southern economic powerhouse of Shenzhen seems a success by most accounts. Riders are enthusiastic, there have been no accidents and drivers are termed “gracious,” not a term usually applied to mainland drivers. The pilot project, which could be replicated in other cities, underpins China’s ambitious plans to put at least half a million electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015. Picture taken June 15, 2011. To match Analysis ETAXIS/ REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

electric competition

Premium badgeMorocco-Algeria: Who will win the battle for Chinese electric batteries? Against the backdrop of Morocco’s negotiations with several major Chinese conglomerates for the establishment of a gigafactory, Xi Jinping has just pr...
© Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Cui Jianchun at the commissioning of Lekki Deep Sea Port, Nigeria, earlier this year. REUTERS

blown out of proportion?

Premium badgeChina’s warships off Nigeria show growing military footprint in Africa Three Chinese warships led by a destroyer arrived in the waters off Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, on 2 June, in a friendly visit that draws att...

China top stories

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina in Antananarivo, 26 June 2021. (AFP/Rijasolo)

tainted friends

Premium badgeMadagascar: Rajoelina’s chief of staff charged with bribery Romy Voos Andrianarisoa and her business associate Philippe Tabuteau face up to 10 years in prison over soliciting bribes for a Gemfields contract.
© A fuel gauge shows a battery residual quantity meter in a BYD E6 electric car, used as a taxi in Shenzhen, at the taxi company’s car park, in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen June 15, 2011. A pioneering electric taxi project in China’s southern economic powerhouse of Shenzhen seems a success by most accounts. Riders are enthusiastic, there have been no accidents and drivers are termed “gracious,” not a term usually applied to mainland drivers. The pilot project, which could be replicated in other cities, underpins China’s ambitious plans to put at least half a million electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015. Picture taken June 15, 2011. To match Analysis ETAXIS/ REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

electric competition

Premium badgeMorocco-Algeria: Who will win the battle for Chinese electric batteries? Against the backdrop of Morocco’s negotiations with several major Chinese conglomerates for the establishment of a gigafactory, Xi Jinping has just pr...
© Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Cui Jianchun at the commissioning of Lekki Deep Sea Port, Nigeria, earlier this year. REUTERS

blown out of proportion?

Premium badgeChina’s warships off Nigeria show growing military footprint in Africa Three Chinese warships led by a destroyer arrived in the waters off Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, on 2 June, in a friendly visit that draws att...

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© Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Cui Jianchun at the commissioning of Lekki Deep Sea Port, Nigeria, earlier this year. REUTERS

blown out of proportion?

Premium badgeChina’s warships off Nigeria show growing military footprint in Africa Three Chinese warships led by a destroyer arrived in the waters off Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, on 2 June, in a friendly visit that draws att...
© Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they pose for photograph during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing September 3, 2018. Andy Wong/POOL Via REUTERS

haircut, or no haircut?

Premium badgeGhana: Chinese loans take centre stage in restructure talks After securing China’s commitment to a debt restructure and unlocking the much-needed IMF relief package last month, Ghana must now flesh out details ...
© Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Angolan president Joao Lourenco at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China 9 October 2018. Angola is the Africa’s biggest borrower from China. Daisuke Suzuki/Pool via Reuters

Hostages to Fortune

Premium badgeAfrica’s indebted sovereigns seek escape route from China-West tensions Geopolitical tensions between China and the West create the danger that indebted African governments will be the victims of power struggles beyond the...
© South Africa, which holds the rotating presidency of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) group, wants to advance the continent’s interests.

achieving change

Premium badgeWhat will Africa’s future be within BRICS? South Africa, which holds the rotating presidency of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) group, wants to advance the continent’s...
Félix Tshisekedi arrives at the extraordinary summit of East African Community heads of state in Bujumbura on February 4, 2023. © Tchandrou Nitanga/AFP

'economic colonisation'

Premium badgeDRC: Tshisekedi wants to renegotiate Kabila’s ‘contract of the century’ with China A task force was created by DRC President Félix Tshisekedi ahead of his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in order to identify the axes ...
© Renganaden Padayachy, finance minister of Mauritius. Photo supplied.

Gateway to Africa

Premium badgeMauritius-China free-trade pact to lift post-Covid economic recovery, finance minister says China’s first free-trade agreement with an African country will help Mauritius to accelerate its post-Covid 19 economic recovery, finance minister Ren...