Container ships at port in Qingdao, China.
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It’s not just size. China’s pragmatic trade strategy, which prioritizes meeting the development needs of its trading partners, has played a key role, too.
Kenyan anchovy products are tested in Hunan, China.
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Several key events highlighted the growing ties between China and Africa.
A Belt and Road Initiative’s bridge being built over L. Victoria, Tanzania.
Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua via Getty Images
Areas such as artificial intelligence, green development, e-commerce, and tech cooperation have been added.
President Cyril Ramaphosa explained South Africa’s foreign policy ahead of hosting the 15th Brics summit.
GCIS
It would help African countries to have a common position on the Ukraine war. This should be based on its impact on food and energy security in the continent.
The Changsha International Convention and Exhibition Center in Hunan.
Chen Yehua/Xinhua via Getty Images
China is moving beyond oil and extractive commodities towards industrial production, job creation and investments that lead to exports.
China’s President Xi Jinping at the 2018 Business Forum meeting during the 10th BRICS summit in South Africa.
Gianluigi Guercia/ AFP
The African continent is an obvious contender for courting by major powers.
Provisions for mandatory inspections to ascertain labour practices are controversial.
Noor Khamis/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The idea of embedding robust labour obligations in the Kenya-US agreement is highly controversial.
Summit held on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, on 25 May 2023.
Amanuel Sileshi/AFP
The emergence of a pan-African voice in the fight against global warming, a global issue, could enable the African Union to regain ground on the international stage.
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa.
South Africa’s foreign policy under Ramaphosa emphasises economic diplomacy and ‘progressive internationalism’, which promotes global equity and ending the dominance of the global north.
A woman works in an Ethiopian textile factory.
Photo by Michael Tewelde/Xinhua via Getty Images
Manufacturing firms exposed to increased Chinese competition employed fewer female production workers than men.
South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor hosts US secretary of state Antony Blinken for a strategic dialogue.
Jacoline Schoonees/Dirco
It’s unclear what practical purpose the drafters of South Africa’s foreign policy document envisaged it serving, and who its intended audience is.
Chinese and Ivorian workers at the site of a container terminal at the port of Abidjan.
Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images
China’s need for private security services in Africa has grown significantly as Beijing increases its investment in the continent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L).
Photo by Sean Gallup - Pool /Getty Images
Five essential reads on Russia’s relationship with Africa.
Flags of India and African countries at the 2015 India Africa Friendship Summit in New Delhi.
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A new book places the responsibility of African growth on its leaders, people, and civil society, while also recognising the role partners like India can play in achieving its goals.
Women workers sow children’s underwear at a textile factory in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
Photo by Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images
Chinese private investments in Ethiopia are highly diverse, fluid and complex.
Shiny backgrounds for photo opportunities figure prominently at the 2022 AU-EU summit in Brussels.
Photo by European Union
The 2022 summit between the European Union and the African Union seeks to renew the intercontinental partnership with massive investments. However, structural patterns of inequality persist.
Somaliland’s newfound strategic importance has been both a gift and a curse.
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The recent flurry of developments is just the world catching up to the reality of Somaliland.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senegalese Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall in Dakar, Senegal.
Photo by Andrew Harnik /pool/AFP/via Getty Images
African countries should adopt measures that strategically play rivals against each other. They should implement long-term strategies and domestic policies for dealing with strategic partners.
A young man watches a Standard Gauge Railway passenger train zoom over his home in Taita Taveta county, south-eastern Kenya.
Author provided
Contrary to the government’s promises of prosperity, Kenya’s mega-railway is heading down the wrong track of development.
President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
EFE-EPA/-Hayoung Jeon
President Tshisekedi’s government no longer has the excuse that it’s being hampered by the dead hand of his predecessor Joseph Kabila’s cabal.