On 24 May, Seoul’s Strategy and Finance Ministry identified Algeria, Ethiopia, Congo-Kinshasa, South Africa and Tanzania as ‘strategically important’ countries in its economic cooperation with Africa. South Korea...

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari held a mini-summit of African ambassadors on 2 June to launch Islamabad’s first real forays into Africa. In the style of Beijing’s Forum on China-Africa...

There are two big problems with the new deal between the China International Fund and the small Australian mining company Bellzone announced in Conakry on 24 May to...

Chinese arms are affordable options for African militaries looking to upgrade, and the advisors of the People’s Liberation Army are ready to meet that demand. On 23-31 May,...

Xia Huang’s short tenure as Ambassador to Niger has been anything but uneventful. Since his arrival in Niamey in November 2009, Xia has contended with a coup that...

After the resignation of New Delhi’s point man on Africa, Shashi Tharoor, in May, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna is taking an even more hands-on role in the cultivation of...

India is changing its tax laws in a bid to introduce greater transparency into its financial transactions with Mauritius. The aim is to stem ‘round-tripping’ of funds by politicians, businessmen and...

Minister of State for External Affairs for Africa Shashi Tharoor considered himself a modern diplomat for his embracing of the internet messaging website Twitter. Yet his tweets from...

Equal measures of optimism and scepticism greeted China’s announcement of an agreement to build three oil refineries worth US$23 billion. The terms of the memorandum of understanding are clear; the...

When Gabon’s President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba was alive, his ministers had nothing but praise for the nearly US$4 billion Bélinga iron ore mine and associated logistics projects, described...