Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | JAPANAFRICA Abe backs business 15th January 2013 Japan’s private sector is taking a more strategic view of Africa and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new government will back them all the way Governments may come and go but the Tokyo International Conference on African Development remains at the heart of Japan-Africa relations. Even as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | INDIAAFRICA Big projects and bottlenecks 15th January 2013 Natural resources are still the main draw for investors but new markets for India’s food, services and consumer goods beckon the big companies The Indian National Congress and Manmohan Singh will try to hang on until general elections are called, in mid-2014 at the latest. With corruption fuelling the public’s anger,...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | SOUTH KOREAAFRICA Going strong 15th January 2013 2012 marked a turning point in every sector of South Korea’s ties with Africa – diplomacy, trade, investment and official development assistance South Korean companies are the contractors of choice for African governments but the East Asian country is also expanding its peacekeeping and official development assistance (ODA) agenda in...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | JAPAN Shinzo Abe 15th January 2013 Prime Minister, Japan Japan’s new leader, Shinzo Abe, wants to shape a more assertive role for his country in both the region and on the global stage. That will require more...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 3 | SOUTH KOREA Park Geun-hye 15th January 2013 President-elect, South Korea The arrival of Park Geun-hye in power in late February 2013 is likely to signal continuity rather than change in South Korea’s Africa policy. The daughter of former...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 2 | CHINAAFRICA Beijing’s new team starts work 4th December 2012 Xi Jinping’s government will gradually switch from export-led growth to focus on domestic investment but will still need Africa’s oil and minerals The character of the new all-male leadership of China’s Communist Party announced on 15 November will prove at least as important for Africa’s political and business elite as...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 2 | ZIMBABWECHINA Adapt or die 4th December 2012 A delegation of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Provincial Chairmen was in Beijing ahead of the historic 8 November Chinese Communist Party (CCP) conference and seamless change of...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 2 | CHINAAFRICA China Sonangol shows its hand 4th December 2012 Under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Alain Fanaie, the former head of infrastructure and commodities at France’s Crédit Agricole, China Sonangol is making moves towards transparency....
Vol 6 (AAC) No 2 | CONGO-KINSHASACHINA Mining companies face more scrutiny 4th December 2012 Pressure is mounting on Kinshasa to publish details of the payments it receives from Chinese state mining companies President Joseph Kabila’s beleaguered government in Kinshasa faces growing pressure from local authorities and civic activists to step up scrutiny of Chinese mining companies in the country. This...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 2 | CONGO-KINSHASAINDIA Chemical of Africa in Lubumbashi pollution row 4th December 2012 A dispute over pollution in Katanga between Chemical of Africa – an Indian company based in Dubai – and local miners and non-governmental organisations may hit Chemaf’s expansion...