LIBERIACHINA A more perfect union 20th February 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Beijing’s special relationship with Monrovia defies market conditions and is expanding into Guinea and Sierra Leone The US$2.68 billion agreement signed by China Union's Chief Executive Yin Fuyou and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on 19 January to restart iron ore production at the old Bong Mines flies in the face of global economic realities as mining projects stall and close across Asia and Africa. The mega deal - the largest in Liberia's history - points to China's long term strategy in the region, where it is developing a portfolio of mining interests in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
LIBERIACHINA The born-again Bong mines 20th February 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site The US$2.68 billion Bong Mines deal hands the Chinese consortium led by Yin Fuyou and China Union a 25-year concession for the formerly German-owned Bong Mines in Bong Country, ...
CONGO-KINSHASACHINA Twixt Beijing and the IMF 20th February 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site China's investment and production plans face a crisis as Kinshasa's foreign reserves nosedive Falling demand for copper, cobalt and diamonds offers a stark choice for President Joseph Kabila's government: does it accept the onerous conditions of credits from the Interna...
CONGO-KINSHASACHINA Vultures over Kinshasa 20th February 2009 Chinese money is now a key target for United States' FG Hemisphere Associates LLC, which wants to reclaim a debt of US$104 million owed by Congo-Kinshasa. FG Hemisphere is widely...
GABONCHINA Iron in the soul 20th February 2009 After renegotiating for better terms in the Bélinga iron ore deal and drops in commodity prices, parties in Beijing are no longer as keen on the deal Having won a dangerous game of brinkmanship, President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba is trying to re-excite China's interest in the Bélinga iron ore project. Since the end of...
GUINEACHINABRIEFING The new Conakry order 20th February 2009 Despite a show of insouciance after December's putsch led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara in Conakry, China's diplomats and business leaders are closely watching the new regime's po...
NIGERIAINDIASOUTH KOREA What's yours is mine and... 20th February 2009 India's gain may prove to be South Korea's loss as local political shifts hit Nigeria's oil business The Korean National Oil Company may take legal action in response to Nigeria's revoking last month of two lucrative concessions awarded to the company in 2005. KNOC won operating...
ANGOLACHINABRIEFING Best friends again 20th February 2009 Angola has maintained its status as China's biggest trading partner in Africa - with trade volumes between the two countries reaching US$25.3 billion in 2008 - according to Beiji...
NIGERIACHINA Contract shuffles 20th February 2009 Global financial chaos and falling demand for oil and minerals are prompting recalculations on all sides. The IMF and World Bank have revised down their gross domestic product for...
CHINAAFRICABRIEFING Beijing news network 20th February 2009 Beijing is investing 45 billion yuan (US$6.6 bn.) in expanding its Xinhua News Agency and launching a 24-hour English language television news station. The plans envisage more co...
CHINA Hu Jintao 20th February 2009 President, People's Republic of China This month, China's leader embarks on his fourth tour of Africa. The itinerary - Mali, Mauritius, Senegal and Tanzania - shows the range of relationships built up under Hu Jintao. ...
TAIWAN Ma Ying-jeou 20th February 2009 President, Republic of China (Taiwan) As China's President Hu Jintao tours Africa this month, his Taiwanese counterpart will be conspicuously absent. Ma Ying-jeou has been trying to cool the diplomatic competition w...
JAPAN Yukio Takasu 20th February 2009 Japan's United Nations Ambassador Japan chairs the United Nations Security Council in February. Its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC began 1 January. Taking the chair, Japan's Ambassador Yukio ...
INDIA T.C. Venkat Subramanian 20th February 2009 Chairman, India Exim Bank India wants to catch up fast with China's still booming economic diplomacy in Africa and at January's India-Africa Business Partnership Forum, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mu...
