AFRICAASIA The BRICS didn’t break out the bank 4th April 2013 A wad of Tanzanian Shillings. Mikkel Ostergaard / Panos Image courtesy of Panos Pictures The emerging countries’ summit reached agreement on a currency stabilisation fund and ministers will continue negotiations on a new development bank Symbolism and messages counted more than the details at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Durban, South Africa, on 26-27 March. So, after lengthy discussions on the plan to set up a BRICS development bank, South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan sounded relieved when he announced: ‘It’s done!’ It was done, in the sense that all the BRICS countries agreed that the bank should be launched but they still had to nail down the important details. South Africa and Brazil had earlier promised that the summit would launch a BRICS bank. So the delegates played down the lack of precision on some of the key questions about the bank.
CHINAAFRICA Criticism mounts but the deals keep coming 4th April 2013 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site New Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to the BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, via Tanzania, one of Beijing’s closest partners on the continent. His consistent message was...
SUDANSOUTH SUDANCHINA Triangular relations 4th April 2013 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site China may be a weapon which Khartoum and Juba use in their conflicts but oil interests lock all three parties into a triangular relationship On 15 March, President Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir sent a message of congratulations to China’s new President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who officially assumed...
GUINEACHINAAUSTRALIA Simandou setbacks 4th April 2013 The Simandou project, which will develop Africa’s largest-ever iron-ore mine, has hit new trouble and Guinea looks for more help from Asia On 15 March, Guinean President Alpha Condé sent a message of congratulations to China’s new leader, Xi Jinping. Apparently, the President had not yet fully digested the bad...
LIBERIACHINA Ups and downs in palm oil 4th April 2013 China Development Bank is lending a hand to the agricultural investment plans of Golden Veroleum, controlled by Singapore-based Golden Agri-Resources. In March, the CDB extended a US$500-million loan...
CONGO-KINSHASACHINA Fametal, SOKIMO and Ituri’s gold 4th April 2013 Despite its troubles with the Congolese authorities last year, the Chinese group Fametal has now established a dominant position in Ituri’s gold belt. In March, Fametal President Wang...
GUINEACHINA The problems with CPI’s Boffa deal 4th April 2013 Guinea’s former National Director of Large Mining Projects, Tidiane Diallo has been sidelined by President Alpha Condé and problems are now besetting the most advanced Chinese mining project...
NAMIBIACHINA Experts only rule for work permits 4th April 2013 The SWAPO government has turned down a request from a Chinese state-backed company for unlimited numbers of work permits. Eastern China Non-Ferrous Metals Investment Holding (ECE) is developing...
CAMEROONCHINA Hanlong misses the Sundance deal deadline 4th April 2013 One of the longest and most problematic Chinese takeover sagas is finally drawing to a sorry end for Sichuan-based Hanlong Mining and Australia’s Sundance Resources. The main attraction...
LIBERIACHINA Missing money 4th April 2013 The political class is up in arms about the local authorities who are responsible for spending development funds from mining companies A Liberian politician has accused a presidential appointee – who secretly recorded him making comments suggestive of corruption – of misappropriating government funds. Representative Edward Forh of the...
CHINAAFRICA Workers of China unite – in Africa 4th April 2013 Trades unions may still have problems operating independently in China but Chinese workers and entrepreneurs are more ready to take industrial action on African projects.
GABONCHINA Extractive pains 4th April 2013 Addax Petroleum, the Swiss-based oil company acquired by China’s Sinopec in August 2009, is the latest firm to enter into a dispute with Gabon as President Ali Bongo...
EQUATORIAL GUINEA Teodoro Obiaiang Nguemama Mbasogo 4th April 2013 President, Equatorial Guinea In his first official visit since the initiation of diplomatic relations between Equatorial Guinea and Thailand in 1991, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and his wife Constancia Mangue...
NIGERIA Sanusi Lamido Sanusi 4th April 2013 Governor, Central Bank, Nigeria Sanusi Lamido Sanusi wrote an op-ed in London’s Financial Times in March that compared Chinese involvement in Africa to that of the Europeans in the colonial era....
JAPAN Toshimitsu Motegi 4th April 2013 Trade Minister, Japan Toshimitsu Motegi will meet representatives from twelve African countries to discuss developments in their mining sectors to prepare for the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development...
SOUTH AFRICA Elias Masilela 4th April 2013 Chief Executive, Public Investment Corporation, South Africa Elias Masilela warned Africa of the dangers of allowing Chinese firms to operate unregulated across the continent at Ernst & Young’s Strategic Growth Forum in Cape Town, South...