Was Kenya’s landmark China debt deal really about RMB internationalization?
@AidData’s Sailor Miao says not exactly. The biggest savings came from old-school restructuring.
We unpack the deal in this thread. 🧵
Watch - tinyurl.com/4k9b7ay6
Biden did not meet with a single African leader last week when all were in the US for UNGA 76. Only DRC President Tshisekedi got a meeting with Sec State Blinken. Consider this the next time you hear someone from USG say how important Africa is to the US.
leadership.ng/snubbed-by-tru…
It's remarkable how fast the China-Africa "donation diplomacy" narrative was replaced by this image of evicted Africans sleeping on the streets of Guangzhou. This is amplified by the fact that China's media apparatus is incapable of countering this narrative.
It's absolutely fascinating to watch how the reaction to events in Guangzhou is now playing out in plain view on social media. To witness a Chinese ambassador getting a lecture like this has got to be a diplomatic first.
If you want to understand why China is so eager to sway the narrative about COVID-19's origins away from its own responsibility in the early stages of the outbreak, this Tweet from a South African mining leader should give an idea of what's at stake.
"Myanmar’s alienation from ASEAN coupled with what could be perceived as a subtle snub from long-standing friend China is a probable factor in pushing Min Aung Hlaing to launch his “charm offensive” towards Russia" -✍️ Saniya Kulkarni from @lseideas
Nigeria closed a $2.5 billion financing deal with China for the 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline. Now that they have the money secured, they're apparently not wasting any time in getting down to work. Construction could begin as soon as next month. petroleum-economist.com/articles/midst…
The 7 African countries whose parliament buildings were built/paid for by China:
1) Congo
2) Zimbabwe
3) Malawi
4) Guinea Bissau
5) Lesotho
6) Gabon
7) Sierra Leonne
Also, let's not forget the AU & ECOWAS headquarters as well. pulse.ng/bi/politics/7-…
Oh my. The same week that China will deliver 200,000 doses to Trinidad & Tobago, the U.S. announced that it will donate 80 vials. Yes, 80.
Just 80.
Not entirely sure if this is the kind of thing that a government should brag about on Twitter.
A group of African ambassadors in Beijing is reportedly going to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today to discuss the forced evictions of Africans in Guangdong. If the meeting goes ahead, this would mark a significant escalation of this issue.
@SecBlinken is the latest in a long string of US Secretaries of State to propagate the widely-held myth that China imports large amounts of workers to work on infrastructure projects in Africa -- something scholars have debunked numerous times. 1/7
The crackdown on African migrants in Guangzhou is rapidly escalating into a full-blown PR disaster for China as videos ricochet across social media. So much of the positive sentiment generated from CN's "donation diplomacy" in Africa is now being undone.
A number of Chinese factories have closed their Ethiopian operations due to what they describe as poor business conditions due to government mismanagement, according to a report by Geng Fenni published in the popular WeChat channel Africa Research Group.