Category: Business
All That is Solid Melts into Air
The last few years’ conversations about China’s global rise ran on a few assumptions: that China’s outward trajectory through initiatives like the Belt and Road will continue uninterrupted, that China’s capacity for overseas lending won’t diminish, and that its role as an export economy serving the Amazons ...
World Bank Surpasses China as Kenya’s Largest External Lender, Says New Government Report
The World Bank has replaced China as Kenya's largest external creditor according to a new Treasury report submitted to parliament this week. Kenya now owes the multilateral lender $10.4 billion compared to $6.9 billion due to Chinese creditors, namely the China ...
Russia Presses BRICS to Allow Payment Routes Around Sanctions
As Russia is being squeezed by Western sanctions, it is reaching out to its partners in the BRICS bloc (Brazil, India, China, and South Africa) to allow transactions in their local currencies and to integrate payment systems. This follows the move ...
Language Barriers Make their Expected Appearance in Zim-China Fight
As the battle between Chinese companies and civil society groups in Zimbabwe drags on, spokespeople for the Chinese side are drawing on some evergreen classics of Africa-China discourse: language barriers and unfair press coverage. Speaking at a panel discussion ...
Chinese-Made Electric Buses Launch in Nairobi
The Kenyan mobility startup BasiGo has assembled its first electric buses, using components from the Chinese automaker Build Your Dream (BYD). BasiGo closed a $4.3 million seed funding round in February to assemble and sell electric-powered buses. The company ...
Transsion Financial Disclosure Provides Rare Insights Into Its Booming Mobile Phone Business in Africa
Shenzhen-based African mobile phone giant Transsion provided a rare glimpse into its financial performance in a disclosure document that went out to 244 Chinese institutional investors. Even though Transsion is a publicly-traded company on the Shanghai Star Exchange, it nonetheless behaves like a lot ...
Rising Debt and a Sinking Currency is a Bad Combination For Kenya
Kenya's embattled currency, the shilling, sank even further on Monday, dipping to an all-time low of 115 against the U.S. dollar, prompting renewed concerns that the country will soon face a dramatic economic reckoning. The problem is that ...
Angolan Logistics Management Tender Will Increase Chinese Influence
The Angolan government is currently deciding which of two China-linked consortiums will manage a transport link that could significantly speed up shipments of strategic minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The corridor includes the Chinese-built 1,344 km Benguela rail line ...
Brazil’s Central Bank Quadruples Yuan Holdings, Raising Chinese Hopes for Greater RMB Acceptance
Brazil’s Central Bank increased its reserves of Chinese renminbi (RMB) fourfold last year. It is the latest indication that the RMB is set to become much more influential in the global financial landscape. A survey last week indicated ...
Frozen Imported Chinese Fish Being Passed Off as Fresh Catch in Kenya
Unsuspecting shoppers at the fish markets in the western Kenyan city of Kisumu on Lake Victoria have been buying frozen imported fish from China that's being passed off by unscrupulous vendors as fresh catch. When reporters from ...