Africa

Beijing’s cooperation with the International Monetary Fund often goes unnoticed. China has been quietly working with the IMF to pressure African governments to remove fuel subsidies, after its...

The Indian government starts 2012 aiming to almost double bilateral trade with Africa from US$46 billion to $70 bn. by 2015. Such plans disguise the fact that, so...

Japan’s cycle of political instability and the long recovery from the tsunami and Fukushima nuclear crisis signal another year of inward focus for the governing elite. Prime Minister...

President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) won a second term on 14 January and now has another four years to carry forward his China-friendly...

The Jakarta government expects 100% growth in exports to Africa over the next three years. They grew by 30% to US$3.5 billion in 2010 and should hit $4.5...

United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson’s week-long trip to Asia in November reaffirmed Washington’s combative relationship with China and its desire to work with Japan...

India’s resource-heavy trade with Africa may be poised to move into the service sector. Indian companies in banking, hotels, agriculture stand to benefit, but African companies will continue...

Twenty-five years after its foundation in response to devastating Ethiopian famines, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), a Japanese-funded non-governmental organisation, is looking beyond crop yields to the challenges...

The United States Senate is again raising the alarm about Washington losing out to Beijing in Africa. On 1 November, the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, chaired by...

For many African countries, the West’s economic travails will translate into spiralling food and fuel prices, higher unemployment and less state spending on education and health. The rumbling...