Asia

The Nairobi government is rallying its Asian partners behind the new Lamu port and associated road and railway projects that will link the Kenyan coast to South Sudan...

United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson’s week-long trip to Asia in November reaffirmed Washington’s combative relationship with China and its desire to work with Japan...

After just two months in office, President Michael Chilufya Sata has made a complete turnaround in his attitude to China. He once criticised Chinese investors but now wants...

From the roads and rail networks to telecoms, the energy sector and the myriad minerals buried in its soil, there has been a sharp spike in the presence...

The array of investments across the economy shows that the government is keen to see Mozambique diversify away from purely resource-based flows. The variety of Asian partners is...

Immediately after Michael Sata’s election as President of Zambia on 22 September, global copper prices fell to their lowest point in almost a year, hitting US$7,500 per tonne, amid fears...

Chinese companies are finding life in Zimbabwe more difficult under the national unity government, according to United States diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Xin Shunkang told US Ambassador...

WikiLeaks cables reveal that First Lady Grace Mugabe is an important facilitator for South Korean companies looking for business opportunities in Zimbabwe. Charles A. Ray, the United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe,...

The National Transitional Council (NTC) has finally formed a government, which should kickstart Libya’s reconstruction despite the fact that loyalists to former leader Moammar el Gadaffi are still holding out in Sirte....

China was the first to send a high-level delegation after South Sudan’s independence celebrations. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi arrived in Juba on 9 August to meet President Salva Kiir Mayardit and outline the...

As Africa’s trade with China continues to top its trade with the United States and former colonial powers, African bankers are calling for a united African front. Standard Bank’s Jeremy Stevens predicts that China-Africa...

The India-Japan joint Africa summit highlights an evolving network of new partnerships seeking to strengthen development, trade and political ties with African countries. Countries have tended to cooperate...

As Khartoum and Juba discussed new oil arrangements in Addis Ababa, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) seized control of the contested district of Abyei on 19-21 May. Nevertheless,...

On 1 June, President Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba sacked Housing Minister Blaise Louembe – who has only had the job since January – and the entire staff of...

The ownership and control of the multi-billion-dollar China Sonangol joint venture continue to baffle business people in Luanda. Ask officials from Beijing about China Sonangol and the response...

Africa’s second railway boom is under way. The first was driven by Europe’s colonial powers, who needed to tranport ore, tea, coffee and other goods from the interior to the...

China and India, like many Western and African states, have torn up their diplomatic rule books as the crisis in Libya moves from revolution to civil war. First...

Chinese traders in Tripoli are watching closely to see how the Western-led attacks on Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi’s regime will affect business in the short term. South Korean...

Japan and China both want to get their hands on Malawi’s transport infrastructure. The Chinese are building roads, while the Japanese announced in February their US$18 million rehabilitation...

A rowdy colonel in detention is lambasting Andry Rajoelina’s Haute autorité de la transition (HAT) for its reliance on opaque deals with Asian companies. Colonel Charles Andrianasoavina claims...

Asian mining companies, from India’s state-owned giants to the opaque China International Fund, are taking up their positions for Mozambique’s great mining rush. The Indian government has already...

North Africa is the prime diplomatic and investment destination for Muslim countries from Southeast Asia like Indonesia. Egypt’s Trade Representation Authority reported that bilateral trade hit US$753.2 million...