SOUTH AFRICACHINA Ditching the Dalai Lama 16th April 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site The barring of the Dalai Lama appalls Archbishop Desmond Tutu but gets strong backing from the finance and foreign ministers The South African authorities' refusal of a visa to the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet in late March shows how the 'One China' policy extends into relations with Africa, where governments refuse to let the issue of Tibet obstruct their hopes of investment. China boasts that it will not interfere in African's internal affairs but is ready to do so when its own Tibet policies are called into question.
SOUTH AFRICACHINA This wheel's on fire 16th April 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site China may be popular amongst some politicians, but support on the ground can be much thinner. In spite of increased trade and warmer relations, there has been a rise in anti-Chin...
LIBERIACHINA The Bong revival 16th April 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site New facts about China Union's iron ore deal reveal the failure and high costs of Monrovia's negotiating tactics On closer scrutiny, the agreement between China Union and the Liberian government to resume iron ore production at Bong Mines hugely favours the Chinese company with only a minim...
LIBERIACHINA Deal or no deal 16th April 2009 The Minerals Development Agreement between China Union and the Liberian government, which Africa-Asia Confidential has seen, offers China Union royalty payments and tax exemption...
CONGO-KINSHASACHINA Debt, markets and Beijing 16th April 2009 All three sides - the IMF, Kinshasa and Beijing - say there is little room for compromise on this month's debt relief talks Kinshasa's negotiators are preparing for more talks with the International Monetary Fund's debt experts at the Fund and World Bank's spring meetings in Washington on 25-26 April....
MOZAMBIQUEINDIAJAPAN Old King Coal 16th April 2009 Japanese and Indian interest in Mozambican coal is growing and export prices are rising again. In a deal in March between the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance and Japan's Nippon ...
NIGERIACHINAINDIASOUTH KOREA From win-win to lose-lose 16th April 2009 Asia's barter deals for Nigerian oil were politically charged and have been economically disastrous Almost all Nigeria's countertrade deals with Asia have been abandoned after investigations by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's officials into their viability.
CONGO-KINSHASACHINA Big numbers on Congo's telecoms projects 16th April 2009 China's Huawei and China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation are working on two information technology projects for Congo-Kinshasa's Ministère des Pos...
CHINAAFRICA Where confidence is currency 16th April 2009 Although China's exports have fallen by more than a quarter from last year's levels, the Export-Import Bank of China is busier than ever financing trade with Africa, Latin Americ...
NIGERIACHINAINDIASOUTH KOREA Abuja's Asian connections 16th April 2009 South Korea: Nigeria is South Korea's third largest trading partner and the largest market in Africa for Korean construction companies. In January 2006, Korean companies were wor...
TAIWANAFRICA If not trade or aid, then what? 16th April 2009 Taiwanese diplomacy faces an awkward commercial challenge. Stripped of the warm words and diplomatic ambiguities, it is clear that Taipei's biggest trading partners no longer rec...
NAMIBIAMALAYSIA Not learning lessons 16th April 2009 A year after Malaysian company Ramatex abandoned its US$100 million textile factory in Windhoek, the authorities are at last tackling the environmental impact of the operations of ...
THAILAND Pornthiva Nakasai 16th April 2009 Minister of Commerce, Thailand If effort can be measured in miles, Thailand's new Commerce Minister is earning her pay. Pornthiva Nakasi has been travelling constantly this year, in India in February and Chin...
JAPAN Nobuhide Minorikawa 16th April 2009 Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan Nobuhide Minorikawa plays a leading role in the development of Japan's African diplomacy. With wide experience of development economics and diplomacy, he is a familiar face on th...
INDIA Pradeep Kumar Chaudhery 16th April 2009 Additional Secretary, Commerce and Industry Ministry, India After the India-Africa summit in April 2008 set out Delhi's new policies for the continent, Pradeep Kumar Chaudhery was given a leading role in the strategy with his appointment ...
CHINA Wu Zexian 16th April 2009 China's Ambassador to Congo-Kinshasa The posting of Wu Zexian, one of Beijing's most experienced Francophone diplomats, to Kinshasa in March 2007 shows the seriousness of China's Africa strategy. Initially, it looke...
