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Published 1st November 2012

Vol 6 (AAC) No 1


Ghana

Political storm over Chinese gas contracts

GHANA Elmina: Small boy and a large vulture on the beach. Sven Torfinn/Panos
GHANA Elmina: Small boy and a large vulture on the beach. Sven Torfinn/Panos

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

Opposition parties and anti-corruption activists call for investigations into and a renegotiation of Beijing’s energy and telecoms deals with Accra

Leading opposition presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo and his New Patriotic Party are stepping up criticism about the financing of Chinese projects in the energy and telecommunications sector. Akufo-Addo and the pro-NPP Alliance for Accountable Government (AFAG) have criticised the terms of the finance as damaging to Ghana. AFAG says that China’s Huawei secured US$43 million in tax exemption in return for contributions to the ruling National Democratic Congress. On 18 October, the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (CSPOG) called for an investigation into transfer pricing and inflated costs for the gas infrastructure being built by China’s Sinopec in Ghana’s Western region.


Call me, maybe

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The influence of Chinese money on Ghana’s heated politics has crossed a legal red line, say activists who accuse telecoms company Huawei of bribing officials of the ruling National...


Calls for protection against Beijing’s exports

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The government wants to improve trade terms with China as new studies show how cheap imports are damaging local industries and costing jobs

South Africa’s Trade Minister Rob Davies gave a list of trade concerns to Beijing officials in October during his tour of East Asia. Davies’s government wants to reduce the damage ...


More summits, more funds

The South Korean government is making more commitments to back its economic expansion in Africa and to promote industrialisation and trade

The third Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Forum took place in Seoul from 15-18 October, marking a stronger engagement from the South Korean government. Foreign Minister Kim Sung-...


Alger, la Chinoise

Chinese companies are displacing European powers in African countries where ties were considered to be strongest, and China is set to become Algeria’s largest trading partner ahea...



Pointers

Yu Yong

Chairman, Cathay Fortune Corporation, China

Shanghai billionaire Yu Yong has directed his private equity firm, Cathay Fortune Corporation, to mount a hostile bid for Australian mining company Discovery Metals. At stake are D...


Bahk Jae-Wan

Strategy and Finance Minister, South Korea

At the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Conference (KOAFEC), held in Seoul from 15-18 October, South Korea announced US$590 million in aid and loans over the next two years. Bahk...


Rob Davies

Trade and Industry Minister, South Africa

Rob Davies’s recent tour led to the strengthened economic relations with Indonesia and China. On 17 October in Jakarta, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry co-chaired ...


Lee Jang-Gyu

President, Adama Science and Technology University, Ethiopia

Following an invitation from the late Premier Meles Zenawi, Lee Jang-gyu went to Ethiopia to take the reins of Adama Science and Technology University in October 2011. Freshly r...