Vol 55 No 23 | UGANDACHINA Loans for oil 21st November 2014 Multibillion dollar Chinese loans less than two years before the elections raise commercial and political questions China has for some time been a leading lender to Uganda but loans have accelerated this year since the government promised to pay for Chinese-built infrastructure from future...
Vol 55 No 10 | CHINAAFRICA Red flag over Africa 16th May 2014 'Unbreakable friendship’ was the slogan for the tour by China’s Premier. ‘Unending salesmanship’ would have served just as well Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s African tour was a week-long, effective sales pitch for Chinese technology and infrastructural expertise. He also announced several major projects. His chosen destinations...
Vol 55 No 4 | ZIMBABWECHINA Wasting assets 10th February 2014 Recent forays in search of investment have failed but there is a lack of urgency in government efforts to revive the economy January has been more depressing than usual for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). President Robert Mugabe had to cut short his annual leave and return from...
Vol 53 No 23 | SUDANCHINABRITAIN Sanctions bypass 16th November 2012 China has quietly joined countries implementing sanctions against Khartoum, we hear. This may not reduce Beijing’s substantial arms exports to Khartoum but it is making life difficult for...
Vol 51 No 23 | ZAMBIACHINA Mining for votes 19th November 2010 Firebrand politician Michael Sata’s anti-Chinese rhetoric is helping the opposition’s campaign ahead of next year’s elections Opposition politicians and trades unionists have gone on the offensive since Chinese managers at the Collum coal mine shot protesting Zambian workers on 21 October. The charge is...
Vol 50 No 23 | NIGERIACHINA China's new bid for Nigerian oil 20th November 2009 China has expressed interest in buying 49% stakes in 23 soon-to-expire oil block licences. The London Financial Times reported in September that the China National Offshore Oil Corporation...
Vol 49 No 9 | ZIMBABWECHINAARMS Oceanic turnaround 25th April 2008 The thwarted voyage of the An Yue Jiang – a Chinese freighter with a cargo of ammunition, mortars, mines and artillery bound for President Robert Mugabe’s government –...
Vol 49 No 5 | SUDANCHINA Lifting the bamboo curtain 29th February 2008 Beijing is changing its policy on Khartoum but on its own terms China is worried about the 'deadlock' in Darfur and is looking for new ideas, its Special Representative for Africa and Darfur, Liu Guijin, told a leading Sudanese civic...
Vol 49 No 5 | SUDANCHINABRITAIN Selective divestment 29th February 2008 Britain’s Conservative Party, which has been campaigning against the Sudan government’s Darfur policy, faces charges of hypocrisy after it accepted more than US$800,000 in contributions from a United...
Vol 48 No 22 | GABONCHINA Digging Belinga 2nd November 2007 Gabonese are outraged at the terms of a US$3 billion iron ore project at Bélinga and the likely damage to the country’s national parks. We hear that the...