SOUTH AFRICAASIA A golden child in Zuma's family 17th August 2010 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Political networks are helping a scion of the Zuma clan secure lucrative supply and production deals with Asian investors The business empire of Khulubuse Zuma, a favourite nephew of President Jacob Zuma, is growing at breakneck speed and strengthened by a raft of opaque deals with Chinese and South Korean companies. Hardly known before his uncle took over the presidency in May 2009, Khulubuse Zuma has sealed several multimillion-dollar deals in mining and transport over the past few months. Rapidly growing joint ventures with China and South Korea are part of Khulubuse's strategy to see his empire reach the US$10 billion mark over the next decade.
LIBYASOUTH KOREA Gadaffi guns for Seoul's spy 17th August 2010 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site An espionage row is holding up progress on a US$438 million project. An espionage row in which Libya expelled one of Seoul’s secret agents is holding up progress on a US$438 million project signed on 6 August between South Korea’s...
GHANASOUTH KOREA Scepticism grows over STX houses 17th August 2010 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site A feistier opposition in Parliament demands more scrutiny on Seoul's multibillion-dollar housing deal Members of Ghana's opposition are demanding more due diligence on the government's US$1.5 billion housing deal.
CHINAAFRICA Beijing beams its messages 17th August 2010 China's state-owned television, radio and news companies are working more closely with Africa's journalist corps Beijing's 20-26 July seminar for developing countries on the topic of 'actively guiding' public opinion and creating a 'sound national image' is its latest response to the tide of Western criticism...
VIETNAMAFRICA Vietnam's two-way trade 17th August 2010 More so than China or India, Vietnam has much in common with Africa's developing countries. Hanoi is also showing itself to be keener on learning from African experiences...
ZIMBABWECHINA A Mugabe shakedown at the Shanghai Expo 17th August 2010 Seeking hard cash and a platform for his disavowals of the West, President Robert Mugabe flew to Shanghai's spectacular trade expo, where on 11 August he thanked Beijing for being...
CHINAAFRICA Coalition of the controllers 17th August 2010 Journalists and activists, pointing to the lack of press freedom and weak civil society in China, argue that Beijing's engagement will only encourage the same in Africa.
MADAGASCARCHINA Beijing offers an iron bailout 17th August 2010 A record US$100 million signature bonus for Andry Rajoelina's regime from Chinese investors will not be enough to compensate for the loss of aid funds as Western governments try to...
VIETNAMAFRICA Hanoi's great leap forward 17th August 2010 Although Vietnam lacks the investment billions of Asia's mega-economies, its development gains offer important lessons for Africa The startling growth of its economy in the three decades after its war with the United States means Vietnam's strategies are of huge interest to many African states, war-torn or...
ANGOLACHINA Luanda's oil lifeline 17th August 2010 Economic relations between Luanda and Beijing are getting even closer as Angola struggles with mounting debts while China becomes more dependent on Angolan oil. In mid-August, Finance Minister Carlos Alberto Lopes...
SINGAPORE Lee Yi Shyan 17th August 2010 Minister of State for Trade & Industry Singapore is making a renewed effort to boost its African trade. It falls to the Minister of Trade and Industry (MTI), Lee Yi Shyan, to make that happen. In July,...
ESWATINI Mswati III 17th August 2010 King of Swaziland Of Taiwan's four African allies, the staunchest has been Swaziland. At independence from Britain in 1968, King Sobhuza II declared allegiance to Taipei. Despite China's rise in the intervening decades, the...
CHINA Liu Zhenmin 17th August 2010 Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs The cultivation of ties with the African Union is a lynchpin of China's courtship of the continent. To this end, China has built a new conference centre at the AU's...
AUSTRALIA Frank Timis 17th August 2010 Chairman, African Minerals Two iron-hungry Chinese companies have thrown in their lot with one of the mining industry's more colourful figures. Vasile Frank Timis, a London-based, Romanian-Australian businessman, is the chairman of African Minerals,...