Dai Bingguo was last in Africa in February, when he accompanied President Hu Jintao to Saudi Arabia, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius. The low-key diplomat's nondescript title of...

Najib Razak's political pedigree is impeccable, but he struggles with the common touch needed to enact his liberal, but potentially unpopular, economic policies. Born 1953, Najib is the...

The Beijing-Harare axis is thriving under Zimbabwe's power-sharing government. Despite opposition claims that China would lose influence because of its close relations with President Robert Mugabe and its historical support for...

Beyond the political controversy about relations with the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front regime, Chinese businesses are set to provide an important source of new investment and jobs for Harare's shaky...

Kawsara in the Koran is one of the heavenly gardens promised to virtuous Muslims. In Dakar, it is the name of an ambitious property development, the Cité des Affaires Kawsara, which...

The International Monetary Fund's pressure on Kinshasa has led to the first sign of the government buckling. At the end of 2007, President Joseph Kabila's government agreed a US$9 billion deal...

Western investors are waiting around on the sidelines, nervous that the outcome of Côte d'Ivoire's elections, scheduled for 29 November, may bring more instability, but Chinese investors are heading straight for...

China is taking advantage of the global economic crisis to restructure its mining industry. A 4 trillion renminbi (US$586 billion) stimulus plan, announced late last year, encompasses sector-specific reform measures put...

The list of countries with multibillion-dollar, Chinese-backed projects is growing longer, with Mozambique the latest country to receive a golden handshake. In late May, China Exim Bank announced US$2.3 billion in...

While China's leading dam-builder Sinohydro was busy dealing with complaints from Western non-governmental organisations about its refusal to engage with local populations, an East African NGO shut down one of Sinohydro's...