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Published 1st October 2012

Vol 5 (AAC) No 12

Zimbabwe

The takeovers will buy votes

HARARE: An old ZANU-PF election poster featuring long time leader Robert Mugabe. Robin Hammond / Panos
HARARE: An old ZANU-PF election poster featuring long time leader Robert Mugabe. Robin Hammond / Panos

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

Ahead of national elections in March 2013, Indigenisation Minister Kasukuwere targets Chinese companies to raise funds for ZANU-PF’s campaign team

In papers submitted to the High Court for yet another extension on setting by-elections in late September, President Robert Mugabe gave an effective commitment to general elections by the end of March 2013. The race is on to grab whatever small kudos there may be from the chaos of the last four years. Claiming credit for Chinese support is a critical move and the latest to visit Beijing is Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere.

Beijing bets on Dos Santos

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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China’s backing of the MPLA ensured leverage and oil supplies – even if activists rail against the influx of unskilled Chinese labour

China may advocate a policy of non-interference, but that did not stop it taking a pretty prominent place in Angola’s 31 August elections, from the campaign trail and the debates t...

Fuqing crime and punishment

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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Several recent court cases – some stretching across two continents – highlight the corruption and criminality that accompany the rapid influx of Chinese investment and workers into...

The President’s new partners

Just before elections, President Koroma has signed several multimillion-dollar secret contracts with a troubled Hong Kong conglomerate

China International Fund, a Hong Kong-based outfit which works closely with Beijing’s state corporations, will become one of the Freetown government’s most privileged business part...

Textile trouble

The garment industry is Africa’s first rung on the ladder of industrialisation but Asian competition has been wrecking it

Asian textile factories in Africa are often the scene of angry confrontation between workers and management, governments and traders. Asian production is widely seen as a threat to...

At the political coalface

Plans by two Thai companies – PTT Asia Pacific Mining and Italian-Thai Development Company (Italthai) – to develop rich coal deposits at Sakoa have stalled amid political infight...

A temporary revolution

A new study from the University of Oxford’s Centre for the Study of African Economies* reveals that the boom in Asian textile investment in Africa is over. To avoid quotas imposed ...

Going with the flow

After months of talks, Sudan and South Sudan have signed agreements that should allow South Sudan to resume oil production. The 27 September deal came after a United Nations Secu...

CIF starts work in Zimbabwe

State media proclaimed in mid-September that China International Fund was to begin building some of the infrastructure that it promised in late 2009 (AAC Vol 3 No 2). Since its arr...

Beijing backs Bamako’s army

China will continue to support the Bamako government’s position and ‘will bring our aid to the extent that it is possible, in particular to the army, where we already have cooperat...

Tax treats stay in downturn

Opaque flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Mauritius to India look set to continue – despite the eight rounds of negotiations over the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement...

Pointers

Kim Yong-Hwan

CEO, Export-Import Bank of Korea

As part of Korea’s attempt to boost relations with emerging markets, Exim Bank Chief Executive Officer Kim Yong-hwan hosted a conference for diplomats from Africa and the Middle...

Noel Naval Tata

Managing Director, Tata International

Noel Tata was never a serious contender to succeed his half-brother Ratan Tata at the head of Tata Group. He seems content with running Tata International, the overseas arm of ...

Bui Thanh Son

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam

On 7 September, Bui Thanh Son welcomed 200 Vietnamese companies and African diplomats to the Vietnam-Africa-Middle East Business Forum, an initiative of the Vietnam Chamber of ...

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