NAMIBIACHINA Beijing in scanner scandal 31st July 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site A politically-charged investigation into commissions on the supply of scanners to the Windhoek government is drawing in some high-profile Chinese officials The arrest of Namibia's powerful Public Service Commissioner, Teckla Lameck, on 9 July by investigators of the Namibian Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in connection with a contract between China's Nuctech and Windhoek International Airport has set in train a legal case with serious repercussions.
NAMIBIACHINA Small corridors of power at Nuctech 31st July 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Until now, Hu Haifeng, the 38-year-old son of China's paramount leader Hu Jintao, has managed to stay out of the limelight. While Hu senior climbed the party ranks - through unglamourous...
ZIMBABWECHINA China woos the team of rivals 31st July 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Harare's power-sharing government needs finance urgently but cannot agree on how to negotiate the terms with China As China emerges as the biggest outside financier of the power-sharing government, differences in Harare over policy towards Beijing are growing. The first public row broke soon after Prime Minister Morgan...
INDIAAFRICA Mittal's meltdown 31st July 2009 Hobbled by the global business downturn and billions of dollars in debt, Mittal's plans to turn West Africa into its iron-ore hub are on hold The world's biggest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, is cutting back sharply on its operations in West Africa, which were part of a plan to provide about two-thirds of the company's iron ore....
LIBERIAMALAYSIABRIEFING Undue diligence in the timber sector 31st July 2009 Malaysian timber conglomerate Samling, which faces accusations of illegal logging, is at the centre of a storm over the bidding by foreign companies for 25-year contracts in Liberia's timber sector. The...
JAPANAFRICABRIEFING Tokyo's new loans for Africa 31st July 2009 Japan is to add another US$4 billion in new concessional loans to Africa over the next five years, outpacing the spending of the China-Africa Development Fund, according to Koji Yonetani, the...
SOUTH AFRICAINDIATELECOMS MTN-Bharti merger 31st July 2009 Despite shareholder concerns the deal between Africa's and India's biggest mobile companies is set to go ahead this year The planned US$20 billion merger of Africa's Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN) and India's Bharti Airtel would bring together two continental giants to form the world's third largest mobile phone company. The...
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICBRIEFING End of the line for Durbar 31st July 2009 A colourful Pakistani businessman, Saifee Durbar, faces extradition to France on fraud charges following the decision of the Central African Republic on 23 June to withdraw his 'honorific' title as Deputy...
GHANASOUTH AFRICAINDIA MTN, militants and share claims 31st July 2009 A tangled web of financial holdings stretching from South Africa to Ghana and Lebanon could delay plans for a US$20 billion merger of India's Bharti Airtel and South Africa's Mobile Telephone...
ALGERIACHINAAFRICANORTH AFRICABRIEFING Al Qaida may target Chinese in Africa 31st July 2009 More signs are emerging that China is being drawn inexorably into Africa's internal politics and is being compelled to take sides in wider geopolitical disputes. This time, the trigger was the...
ZAMBIA Michael Chilufya Sata 31st July 2009 President, Patriotic Front of Zambia Neither age nor ill-health seem to dampen the fire in the belly of Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata. Born 1937, 'King Cobra' has lost none of his bite,...
JAPAN Seiko Hashimoto 31st July 2009 State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Japan Seiko Hashimoto brings Olympic glamour to the Africa-Asia axis. Born in 1964 in Hokkaido, she competed in seven Olympic Games, four as a speed skater and three as...
CHINA Dai Bingguo 31st July 2009 State Councillor, China Dai Bingguo was last in Africa in February, when he accompanied President Hu Jintao to Saudi Arabia, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius. The low-key diplomat's nondescript title of...
MALAYSIA Najib Razak 31st July 2009 Prime Minister, Malaysia Najib Razak's political pedigree is impeccable, but he struggles with the common touch needed to enact his liberal, but potentially unpopular, economic policies. Born 1953, Najib is the...