GHANACHINA The revolution will be financed 15th September 2011 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site President John Atta Mills plans to use Chinese credit lines to develop the country’s hydrocarbons infrastructure and build up an industrial base Opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) members of parliament were up in arms when the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) used its slim parliamentary majority to push through approval of a US$3 billion credit line from the China Development Bank (CDB) on 27 August. The NPP’s abstention and the party’s subsequent criticism of the shape of the agreement was based on a perception that the Master Facility Agreement (MFA) had been laid before the House without details of the subsidiary projects to be funded.
GUINEACHINA Betting on Boffa 15th September 2011 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site The government is negotiating the biggest-ever mining contract with a state-owned Chinese company, while another deal gets downsized President Alpha Condé’s new government has been investigating the capacity of one of China’s large state-owned construction companies during the last few months. A June trip to Chi...
GUINEACHINA Pulling away CIF’s welcome mat 15th September 2011 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Guinean President Alpha Condé has removed the most attractive clauses of China International Fund’s joint venture agreement with the former military junta of Captain Moussa Dadis C...
ETHIOPIACHINASOMALILAND To Berbera and beyond 15th September 2011 A Chinese company is backing infrastructure projects to develop secessionist Somaliland and give Ethiopia greater access to the sea Port and energy deals signed between a private Chinese company and the breakaway government of Somaliland should provide the region with the most important boost it has ever receiv...
GHANASOUTH KOREA STX's house is falling down 15th September 2011 The list of problems for the STX housing deal grows longer as plans to fly in thousands of Asian workers divide the project’s backers. STX Group of Korea declared its intention in ...
NAMIBIACHINAJAPAN Harbour of resentment 15th September 2011 A decision by the Namibian state-owned port operator to pre-award an estimated US$285 million contract for the Walvis Bay harbour expansion to the China Harbour Engineering Company...
ZIMBABWECHINA Vanishing truckers 15th September 2011 Key suspects in a fraud case linked to Grace Mugabe have disappeared, as have Buddhist monks behind a charity project on one of her properties Four truck drivers charged as accomplices in a trucking fraud case failed to appear in court in Harare on 25 August and warrants for their arrest were issued. The principal accused... READ FOR FREE
CONGO-KINSHASASOUTH KOREA Fire sale 15th September 2011 Ahead of national polls scheduled for 28 November, the Kinshasa government has decided to sell off state assets to a Hong Hong-based company for a fraction of their value.
ZIMBABWE Zisco deal still kicking 15th September 2011 Just as NewZim Steel, formerly known as the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Corporation (Zisco), is about to hold its first board meeting at the end of September, reports are emerging in t...
GABONCHINA Timber company cuts corners 15th September 2011 Smuggling is one of the biggest open secrets in Gabon’s forestry sector. Ever since the government began trying to mandate more local value-added processing of logs, the raw timber...
INDIA Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi 15th September 2011 Managing Director, Karuturi Global, India As the head of an established floriculture business specialising in cut flowers, Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi first expanded his company’s African interests several years ago, opening ...
SOUTH AFRICA Patrice Motsepe 15th September 2011 Chairman, ARMgold, South Africa In September, South African mining entrepreneur Patrice Motsepe began talks with his co-chair on the South Africa-India Chief Executive Officers Forum, Ratan Naval Tata, the Chairm...
CHINA Lu Xingyu 15th September 2011 Chairman, China-Africa Project Hope Lu Xingyu, the 24-year-old daughter of a Chinese billionaire, is at the centre of a media row after newspapers and bloggers attacked the legitimacy of the China-Africa Project Hope...
JAPAN Koichiro Gemba 15th September 2011 Foreign Minister, Japan The newly appointed foreign minister faces an uphill struggle in maintaining Japan’s image as a powerhouse of the global economy. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government mus...
