GHANACHINA Beijing’s gas loan tests IMF 13th December 2011 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Officials in Washington are in last-minute negotiations over a compromise deal on the terms of China’s multi-billion-dollar loan to Accra The International Monetary Fund (IMF) looks set to bend its rules this month to accommodate Ghana’s rush to raise a US$700 million loan from China to build a gas processing plant and pipeline from the two billion barrel offshore Jubilee oil field. Work has to start quickly on the gas project, which has been held up by bureaucratic wrangling, if Ghana is to avoid technical problems with managing the gas from Jubilee.
GHANACHINA A special relationship in the making 13th December 2011 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Many in the governing National Democratic Congress want to boost ties with China to new heights: their target is some US$10 billion of Chinese loans (AAC Vol 3...
KENYAASIA Longing for Lamu 13th December 2011 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Kenya’s coalition government wants to start a monumental infrastructure project but is having trouble coming up with the funds The Nairobi government is rallying its Asian partners behind the new Lamu port and associated road and railway projects that will link the Kenyan coast to South Sudan...
SUDANSOUTH SUDANCHINA Pipeline problems 13th December 2011 On 28 November, Sudan’s Petroleum Minister Ali Ahmed Osman announced that South Sudan would no longer be able to export its crude through the northern pipeline and Port...
ZAMBIACHINA Alarm over security deal 13th December 2011 President Sata’s government investigates inflated contracts that were financed with Chinese concessional loans A Zambia Revenue Authority commission of inquiry has turned up irregularities in a government agreement to purchase security scanners from Nuctech, a Chinese company formerly led by Hu...
GHANASOUTH KOREABRIEFING Housing scheme crumbles 13th December 2011 The multi-billion-dollar housing venture run by South Korea’s STX and a group of Ghanaian investors looks close to collapse, with the partners embroiled in lengthy court actions against...
UNITED STATESAFRICAASIA USA shapes Asia plans 13th December 2011 US officials are talking to their counterparts in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul to find ways to coordinate policies and operations 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...
ZAMBIACHINA Kaunda settles Sata's differences with Beijing 13th December 2011 President Michael Sata is trying to reassure Chinese politicians and business leaders about his government’s planned reforms.
INDIAAFRICABRIEFING It’s energy that counts 13th December 2011 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...
SOUTH KOREAOECD China and India join aid cooperation 13th December 2011 European officials left the Busan Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness on 1 December congratulating themselves on having brought China and India closer into the global aid infrastructure.
ZIMBABWEINDIABRIEFING Essar takes control of Zisco 13th December 2011 India’s Essar Group has at last won control of Zimbabwe’s iron and steel works, after months of infighting in the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front threatened to derail...
JAPANAFRICABRIEFING Plant a seed 13th December 2011 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...
CÔTE D'IVOIRE Moussa Dosso 13th December 2011 Industry Minister, Côte d’Ivoire After nearly a decade of instability, Côte d’Ivoire is undergoing a slow process of revitalisation. Moussa Dosso, the Industry Minister and member of Guillaume Soro’s Forces Nouvelles, is...
INDIA Madhusudan Ganapathi 13th December 2011 Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, India Madhusudan Ganapathi Ganapathi, the new Secretary for the Western Region in the Ministry of External Affairs, hosted the India-Africa Strategic Dialogue on 24-25 November. The event brought together...
JAPAN Tsukasa Kawada 14th December 2011 Ambassador to Algeria, Japan A new ambassador arrived in Algiers this October and began by giving his honest opinions on the country’s bureaucratic, political and economic challenges. Much perturbed by the fact...
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Alain Akouala Atipault 14th December 2011 Minister for Special Economic Zones, Congo-Brazzaville The development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) has been on the agenda of Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s government since 2009, but the details are only now becoming clear....