Ethiopia’s signing last month of a $800 million broadband network with Chinese telecoms giant ZTE has some pundits again focusing on Chinese economic espionage in Africa. The agreement calls for the establishment of a 4G broadband network in the capital Addis Ababa and a 3G network throughout the rest of the country. The project should […]
Obama’s recent visit to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania has some arguing “too little, too late”. They argue that while the U.S. was resting on its laurels, China has stolen a march over the United States with its narrow commercial approach, eschewing the Western goals of social and political development. To back their argument, they […]
Incoming Chinese president Xi Jinping’s first trip as head of state took him to Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo late last month. His inaugural trip was much heralded back in China as an assertion of Beijing’s growing soft power, and its ability to develop friendly relations with resource-laden nations. Xi began […]
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece detailing some of the methods behind China’s expansion into the African continent. The informative article not only does a nice job detailing specific cases of African and Chinese government business partnerships, but ties in how what is being exchanged it not just money and goods, but also […]
This week I returned from a trip to Uganda. While there I saw evidence of the favorite topic of many in the international development community – the role of Chinese foreign assistance in Africa. Across the street from the parliament building is an enormous construction site with working ongoing 24 hours a day, 7 days […]