Vol 6 (AAC) No 5 | CHINAAFRICA Negotiating African risk 7th March 2013 After underestimating the challenges facing their African investments, Chinese companies are looking for new ways to protect their projects and personnel 'China wholeheartedly welcomed by Africa,’ crowed the state-owned China Daily on 5 March. Yet China’s ever-growing relations with the continent face a complex environment of political and economic...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 5 | CHINAAFRICA Arab spring prompts soul searching 7th March 2013 The fall of Libya’s Moammar el Gaddafi was a wake-up call both for Beijing and for Chinese companies operating in high-risk environments. While the Chinese were not the...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 5 | CHINAUNITED STATESAFRICA Chinese investment reality check 7th March 2013 The United States Government Accountability Office released a detailed report last month, which reveals the different impacts of its African strategies and those of China. Interestingly, the GAO’s...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 5 | CHINAAFRICA Private companies under the radar 7th March 2013 Official Chinese statistics vastly underestimate the number and value of private Chinese investments in Africa, according to a recent World Bank report. Private Chinese Investment in Africa: Myths...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | CHINAAFRICA Year of the Snake 15th January 2013 Demand for natural resources will ease as China focuses more on internal politics while moving towards consumer-led growth and management of political risk The year 2012 was a tumultuous one, as might be expected from a Year of the Dragon. However, while the run-up to the Chinese leadership transition was nothing...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | JAPANAFRICA Abe backs business 15th January 2013 Japan’s private sector is taking a more strategic view of Africa and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new government will back them all the way Governments may come and go but the Tokyo International Conference on African Development remains at the heart of Japan-Africa relations. Even as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | INDIAAFRICA Big projects and bottlenecks 15th January 2013 Natural resources are still the main draw for investors but new markets for India’s food, services and consumer goods beckon the big companies The Indian National Congress and Manmohan Singh will try to hang on until general elections are called, in mid-2014 at the latest. With corruption fuelling the public’s anger,...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | SOUTH KOREAAFRICA Going strong 15th January 2013 2012 marked a turning point in every sector of South Korea’s ties with Africa – diplomacy, trade, investment and official development assistance South Korean companies are the contractors of choice for African governments but the East Asian country is also expanding its peacekeeping and official development assistance (ODA) agenda in...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | AFRICAASIA Growth in a time of global austerity 15th January 2013 Despite the global slowdown, Africa-Asia trade moves full steam ahead State-owned oil company PT Pertamina made its largest African acreage purchase in December. A deal for stakes in three Algerian blocks owned by United States company ConocoPhillips for...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 2 | CHINAAFRICA Beijing’s new team starts work 4th December 2012 Xi Jinping’s government will gradually switch from export-led growth to focus on domestic investment but will still need Africa’s oil and minerals The character of the new all-male leadership of China’s Communist Party announced on 15 November will prove at least as important for Africa’s political and business elite as...