First Independent Mena Newspaper
The meeting of financial chiefs of the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies held in Bengaluru, India, on 24-25 February 2023 failed to issue a proposed final communiqué in the face of Russian and Chinese objections, which has again brought into spotlight the self-proclaimed ‚neutrality’ of South Africa and many other countries on the continent. […]
As Russia, China and South Africa have started joint naval drills amid Ukraine war, Moscow said its military will not test-fire a hypersonic missile during the exercises, contradicting earlier reports in Russian state media. A senior Russian naval official told a news conference that the contentiously-timed war games this week would not include Russia’s military […]
Antonio Tajani, Italy’s top diplomat, on Sunday slammed China’s influence in Africa arguing that leaving the continent in the hands of China is a mistake. “Taking an interest in Africa is crucial for the future. Leaving Africa in the hands of China is a big mistake for everyone here,” Tajani said at the Munich Security […]
Despite regular warnings by US military commanders about a possible second Chinese military base in Sub-Saharan Africa and rumors about new footholds in countries like Equatorial Guinea, China’s strategic interest in Africa is relatively low, especially when compared with regions like Southeast Asia and the Middle East, according to a new policy brief published by […]
China-Africa digital services hub focused on facilitating trade established in Hunan China’s Hunan province has unveiled a China-Africa Digital Services Hub that focuses on cross-border communications support and data-sharing between Chinese companies working in Africa. The China-Africa economic and trade digitalization service based in Changsha, the provincial capital, aims to support Chinese companies’ trade with […]
Africa’s bilateral trade with China surged to a record high in 2022, highlighting how Beijing’s commercial influence over the continent continues to dwarf that of the United States. Beijing’s push to promote imports from Africa and rising commodity prices pushed trade up 11% to $282 billion last year. China’s exports to Africa were $164.49 billion, […]
The number of endangered rhinos poached in Namibia reached the highest level on record in 2022, as twice as many animals — 87 compared to 45 — were killed in 2021, official government data showed on Monday (30 January). Africa’s rhino population has been decimated over the decades to feed demand for rhino horn, which, […]
Top American, Chinese and Russian officials — US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — are all scrambling to visit several African nations in January to pledge their countries’ commitment to the world’s fastest-growing continent. As President Joe Biden prepares for a visit to Africa later […]
South Africa, China and Russia will jointly stage naval drills in February to strengthen the already flourishing relations between the three countries. The African country will host the training. “South Africa will host the Chinese and Russian Federation navies in a multilateral maritime exercise between February 17 and 27,” the South African military confirmed in […]
China and Benin signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on partial debt cancellation Saturday during the visit of the Chinese top diplomat Qin Gang to the African country. Qin said his visit was to “identify more fields of action”, Africa News reports. “China intends to work together with Benin to implement the projects agreed by […]