https://www.scmp.com/rss/520229/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Resource-rich African nations are increasingly asserting control over critical minerals to maximise domestic returns, sending global prices soaring and exerting pressure on Chinese supply chains. One price crunch started last month when Zimbabwe, Africa’s biggest lithium producer, abruptly suspended exports of raw lithium minerals and concentrates. The country had originally planned to impose the ban in 2027 to encourage more local value-added processing of the mineral but the government brought... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346717/chinas-supply-chain-meets-wall-african-resource-nationalism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346717/chinas-supply-chain-meets-wall-african-resource-nationalism?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 06:36:21 +0000 Chenjie Song Chenjie Song If 2026 were a chess match, critical minerals would be the opening gambit, and both China and the United States are going all out. On January 28, China’s Zijin Mining announced a US$4 billion takeover of Allied Gold’s three African mines. On February 3, Swiss mining giant Glencore entered talks to sell a 40 per cent stake in its Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) copper and cobalt operations to the US-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium. Between the two announcements, US Secretary of State... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3343940/pax-sinica-vs-pax-silica-how-china-us-mineral-war-taking-shape?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3343940/pax-sinica-vs-pax-silica-how-china-us-mineral-war-taking-shape?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage China is rolling out hundreds of activities across Africa, including study trips and AI competitions, as part of what experts have described as a “soft power” charm offensive designed to deepen its influence across the continent. In moving beyond its traditional focus on infrastructure and high-level finance, Beijing is expanding its engagement through the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges – an initiative dedicated to cultural and social diplomacy. Announced by Chinese Foreign... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3340092/how-china-stepping-africa-charm-offensive-boost-cultural-ties-deepen-influence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3340092/how-china-stepping-africa-charm-offensive-boost-cultural-ties-deepen-influence?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jan 2026 12:00:18 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Authorities in Mogadishu had cleared the roads for a historic visit, yet on Friday Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi travelled to Tanzania instead of Somalia as planned. It would have been the first high-level Chinese mission to Mogadishu in four decades. The last-minute decision not to include the capital on Wang’s itinerary came as Somalia seeks shows of diplomatic support after Israel recognised the breakaway region of Somaliland last month. A source at the presidential palace told local media... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339584/wang-yi-cites-severe-risks-after-somalia-dropped-africa-itinerary-last-minute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339584/wang-yi-cites-severe-risks-after-somalia-dropped-africa-itinerary-last-minute?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:37:40 +0000 Dewey Sim Dewey Sim China pledged to deepen cooperation and exchanges with Tanzania on Friday as its top diplomat toured the region, promising that Beijing would “always stand together” with Africa. Wang Yi also called on Tanzania to work with China to uphold international law and multilateralism, in what one observer said would be the Chinese foreign minister’s key message to Africa amid Washington’s apparent retreat from the rules-based international system. Wang will wrap up his six-day tour of the continent on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339490/china-urges-tanzania-back-multilateralism-vows-always-stand-together-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339490/china-urges-tanzania-back-multilateralism-vows-always-stand-together-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:00:11 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage China and the African Union issued a joint call to uphold an international law-based order, with particular respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, in a display of unity against Washington’s raid on Venezuela. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and African Union chief Mahmoud Ali Youssouf expressed concerns over the events in Venezuela in a statement released after their meeting in Ethiopia on Thursday. The United States raided Venezuela on Saturday and abducted its leader Nicolas... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339294/china-fm-wang-yi-opens-africa-tour-united-call-rules-based-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339294/china-fm-wang-yi-opens-africa-tour-united-call-rules-based-order?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jan 2026 06:34:20 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa It’s midnight on an ordinary Thursday and Darren Lee is wide awake, hunched over a laptop, sending off emails. While most other university students might be winding down after a day of lectures or grabbing drinks with friends, Lee’s nightly routine has just begun. Sure, his grades are slipping, his mother is less than thrilled about all the socks taking over their living room, and his social life is bleak at best. But at only 19 years old, Lee is the proud founder and CEO of Sababu, a home-grown... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3338459/hong-kong-teen-trading-sleep-and-social-life-help-artists-around-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3338459/hong-kong-teen-trading-sleep-and-social-life-help-artists-around-world?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2026 23:00:13 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela A microbiologist who revolutionised the production of laboratory-grown seafood protein took home the top prize in the 2025 African Business Heroes awards in Rwanda on Saturday, in the seventh annual edition of the largest event for start-ups of its kind on the continent. Diana Orembe, the founder of Tanzania-based NovFeed, was the winner out of 10 finalists in the awards, which received up to 32,000 applications from 54 countries. She took home US$300,000 in grant funding. Abraham Mbuthia of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3336326/china-africa-partnership-leaps-future-beijing-expands-market-access-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3336326/china-africa-partnership-leaps-future-beijing-expands-market-access-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2025 09:19:45 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage China’s big money is returning to African infrastructure as its state-owned firms evolve from mere builders into long-term financiers and operators. This is so they have enough “skin in the game”, according to one analyst, as Beijing seeks lasting influence over key transport routes and critical mineral supply chains in Africa. Across the continent, these companies are increasingly financing, building and operating key infrastructure under public-private partnerships (PPP). This financing model... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3335506/skin-game-china-pivots-operating-african-railways-ports-funding-shift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3335506/skin-game-china-pivots-operating-african-railways-ports-funding-shift?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2025 04:00:14 +0000 Genevieve Donnellon-May Genevieve Donnellon-May Ground has quite literally been broken on a Chinese-funded project to modernise the Tanzania-Zambia railway after years of negotiations, amid intensifying “corridor wars” as major powers compete to shape transport and trade networks across not just Africa but also Eurasia and beyond. The US$1.4 billion upgrade will restore the 1,860km railway, known as Tazara, a vital corridor linking Zambia’s Copperbelt to the Indian Ocean via Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam port, connecting southern and eastern... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3335368/tazara-rail-deal-could-redefine-china-africa-ties-amid-corridor-wars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3335368/tazara-rail-deal-could-redefine-china-africa-ties-amid-corridor-wars?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Dec 2025 08:30:10 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Chinese Premier Li Qiang will arrive in the Zambian capital Lusaka on Wednesday, with a US$1.4 billion railway modernisation deal high on his agenda. But Li could also face political fallout from a toxic spill at a copper mine in the country’s north. Two Chinese mining firms have been sued over the incident that has been described as an “ecological catastrophe” by farmers. It will be the first visit to Zambia by a top Chinese leader since 2007, and Li’s first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. He will... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3333373/railway-deal-and-toxic-spill-likely-top-agenda-chinese-premier-visits-zambia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3333373/railway-deal-and-toxic-spill-likely-top-agenda-chinese-premier-visits-zambia?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Nov 2025 07:00:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Tanzanian authorities charged hundreds of people with treason over demonstrations around disputed polls last month, in a major escalation of political tension as the country reels from violence in which an unknown number of people were killed. In addition to dozens criminally charged a day earlier in Dar es Salaam, dozens more face similar treason charges elsewhere in the East African country according to numerous charge sheets that became publicly available on Saturday. Police also issued... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3332052/tanzania-charges-hundreds-treason-over-deadly-presidential-poll-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3332052/tanzania-charges-hundreds-treason-over-deadly-presidential-poll-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 11:04:48 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan played down days of bloody protest as she was inaugurated on Monday, despite the opposition warning that hundreds were killed. The electoral commission said Hassan won 98 per cent of the vote. The main opposition party, Chadema, which was barred from running, has rejected the results. It has called for fresh elections, saying last Wednesday’s vote was a “sham”. In her speech, Hassan called for “unity and solidarity” but also alleged that some of the young... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331397/tanzanias-president-sworn-opposition-says-hundreds-killed-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331397/tanzanias-president-sworn-opposition-says-hundreds-killed-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 20:59:00 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has won a landslide election victory, official results showed on Saturday, after key candidates were jailed or barred from a vote that has triggered days of violent protests. The final result showed Hassan won 97.66 per cent of the vote, dominating every constituency, the electoral commission announced on state television. A quick swearing-in ceremony would take place on Saturday, state TV said. At stake for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331166/tanzanias-president-wins-landslide-amid-protests-opposition-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331166/tanzanias-president-wins-landslide-amid-protests-opposition-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2025 07:17:45 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Tanzania’s main opposition said hundreds had been killed in three days of election protests, with the country still under an internet blackout on Friday and the government denying any use of “excessive force”. A security source and diplomat in Dar es Salaam both said that deaths were “in the hundreds” as protests continued on Friday. President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to cement her position and silence critics in her party with an emphatic win in Wednesday’s election, in which her main... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331135/hundreds-dead-tanzania-post-election-violence-opposition-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331135/hundreds-dead-tanzania-post-election-violence-opposition-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:11:54 +0000 Jane Lee,Kenny Shui Jane Lee,Kenny Shui Hong Kong is stepping up to lead the next wave of global commerce. The recent launch of the government’s GoGlobal Task Force marks a crucial step in increasing international economic engagement. By pooling resources across the trade, finance, legal and professional sectors, the initiative offers a streamlined, unified platform to assist mainland enterprises in expanding overseas, particularly in the world’s fastest-growing regions. Traditionally, Hong Kong has focused on the US and European... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3330376/its-time-hong-kong-set-its-first-trade-office-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3330376/its-time-hong-kong-set-its-first-trade-office-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 01:30:08 +0000 Phoebe Zhang Phoebe Zhang Ahead of a global summit on women next week, China’s state media is projecting the country as a role model for its years of progress in promoting women’s rights, noting that other countries could benefit from its experience. The Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women, co-hosted by China and UN Women, will be held on Monday and Tuesday in Beijing, with Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the opening ceremony and giving the keynote speech. Dozens of heads of government, house speakers, vice-premiers... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3328573/state-media-frames-china-womens-rights-role-model-countdown-global-summit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3328573/state-media-frames-china-womens-rights-role-model-countdown-global-summit?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Oct 2025 11:51:13 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik Tributes have poured onto Chinese social media following the death on Wednesday of British conservationist Jane Goodall, aged 91, who visited China 17 times and whose story featured in school textbooks. Goodall’s last visit to China was last year, when she gave an interview to state broadcaster CCTV. “I love forests. I love animals. I care about the future,” she told the programme, first broadcast in December and posted to its social media account on Thursday. Goodall, best known for her... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3327740/china-remembers-jane-goodall-and-her-passionate-engagement-environment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3327740/china-remembers-jane-goodall-and-her-passionate-engagement-environment?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Oct 2025 06:00:26 +0000 Reuters Reuters Scientist and global activist Jane Goodall, who turned her childhood love of primates into a lifelong quest for protecting the environment, died on Wednesday at the age of 91, the institute she founded said. Goodall died of natural causes, the Jane Goodall Institute said in a social media post. “Dr Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” it said. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3327560/wildlife-advocate-primate-expert-jane-goodall-dies-91?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3327560/wildlife-advocate-primate-expert-jane-goodall-dies-91?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:48:59 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage The Chinese state-owned construction giant that built the Mao Zedong-era Tanzania-Zambia railway is returning to the project with a US$1.4 billion commitment to overhaul and run the line as it increasingly becomes geoeconomically important for China. In a deal struck on Monday, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) agreed to an initial US$1.1 billion investment plus a further US$238 million to be reinvested into the severely dilapidated Tazara Railway, as the line is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3327348/us14-billion-tazara-rail-deal-puts-china-fast-track-africas-copperbelt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3327348/us14-billion-tazara-rail-deal-puts-china-fast-track-africas-copperbelt?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 04:00:18 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage A geopolitical contest is unfolding in central-southern Africa, where major global powers are vying for control of key logistical routes amid a global race to secure critical minerals for the green energy transition. At the centre of this rivalry lies the small town of Kapiri Mposhi in central Zambia, a strategic hub where three competing corridors – China’s Tazara, the US-backed Lobito Corridor and Japan’s Nacala Corridor – converge. Observers say the race to build these corridors is not just... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3324542/china-us-japan-race-control-key-african-rail-routes-critical-minerals-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3324542/china-us-japan-race-control-key-african-rail-routes-critical-minerals-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Sep 2025 06:00:14 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall What was meant as a symbolic gesture of friendship at an international summit has snowballed into a national panic in Japan, after false reports circulating in Africa and online suggested that new visa schemes would allow large numbers of migrants to settle in the country. In just a few days, a mistranslated phrase, an overzealous government statement and a flurry of social media posts turned a modest cultural exchange programme into a heated immigration controversy. The confusion stemmed from... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3323384/mass-migration-panic-rural-japan-after-symbolic-africa-ties-mistranslated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3323384/mass-migration-panic-rural-japan-after-symbolic-africa-ties-mistranslated?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2025 00:00:08 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Despite Washington’s framing of a key railway network in Angola as a strategic counter to China, the CEO of the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) says the company is “a purely commercial entity” with “zero geopolitical considerations”. Nicholas Fournier, the newly appointed chief executive, said in an interview with the South China Morning Post that the company was just one part of the broader Lobito Corridor, which aims to increase economic activity along the route. LAR has strong commercial ties... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322922/no-geopolitics-involved-angola-rail-project-not-aimed-countering-china-ceo-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322922/no-geopolitics-involved-angola-rail-project-not-aimed-countering-china-ceo-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 12:00:08 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage China is investing hundreds of millions of US dollars to develop soy bean and grain farms in Angola as it seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States for supplies and improve food security. Last month, two giant state-owned Chinese firms signed deals worth US$350 million to develop tens of thousands of hectares of land in the southern African country. One of the companies, SinoHydro Group, a hydropower and civil engineering firm, will invest more than US$100 million in return for a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320483/china-investing-us350-million-angolan-agriculture-drive-boost-food-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320483/china-investing-us350-million-angolan-agriculture-drive-boost-food-security?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Aug 2025 06:00:16 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Over the past two decades, China has considerably broadened its military and security diplomacy throughout Africa, establishing ties with 53 of the continent’s 54 countries, with eSwatini the only exception. Observers say that among those countries, Tanzania stands out as an exceptionally strong and enduring military partner for Beijing, with more than 90 per cent of its military arms coming from China. According to a study released last month by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, Tanzania... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3316933/inside-china-and-tanzanias-very-special-relationship-found-nowhere-else-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3316933/inside-china-and-tanzanias-very-special-relationship-found-nowhere-else-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jul 2025 10:00:13 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage China has paid tribute to a Chinese doctor in Tanzania who died saving a woman in distress in the sea, saying his heroism exemplified the deep China-Africa friendship and the dedication of Chinese medical teams. Zhang Junqiao, a 38-year-old anaesthesiologist working in Tanzania as part of a Chinese medical team, went to the aid of the drowning Tanzanian woman off Dar es Salaam on June 15. Images from the scene showed Zhang keeping her afloat while helping her into a life jacket moments before he... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3315772/china-honours-aid-doctor-zhang-junqiao-who-died-saving-drowning-woman-tanzania?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3315772/china-honours-aid-doctor-zhang-junqiao-who-died-saving-drowning-woman-tanzania?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Jun 2025 11:00:09 +0000 June Xia June Xia Big city lights? Too dull, say bright-eyed Chinese travellers who prefer to dream of far-flung locales – areas more likely to drain their life alongside their bank account. And oh, what a thrill. Chinese tourists eyeing overseas excursions are increasingly turning their gaze to remote areas – generally away from urban settings and run-of-the-mill tourist destinations that comprise the photo posts of more traditional travellers, and towards off-the-beaten-path locations that, in many cases, wowed... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3315249/chinas-thrill-seekers-splash-out-adventure-tourism-social-media-lures-them-grid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3315249/chinas-thrill-seekers-splash-out-adventure-tourism-social-media-lures-them-grid?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Jun 2025 03:00:11 +0000 Francesca Fearon Francesca Fearon A precious, deep blue gemstone is increasingly captivating jewellery designers. Tanzanite was first discovered in 1967 by Maasai herders in Tanzania’s Merelani Hills near Mount Kilimanjaro and is still the world’s only known source, meaning the stone remains very rare. Tanzanite was given its name by Tiffany & Co. – the first jeweller to market it – and the brand commanded a monopoly on the stone until the 1980s. Now, this vivid, blue-violet hued gem is animating collections from Dior to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/jewellery/article/3312280/blue-why-brands-dior-chaumet-and-giorgio-b-are-falling-tanzanite-gemstone-hills-mount-kilimanjaro?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/jewellery/article/3312280/blue-why-brands-dior-chaumet-and-giorgio-b-are-falling-tanzanite-gemstone-hills-mount-kilimanjaro?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 May 2025 22:00:10 +0000 Chinese rail contractors are consolidating their foothold in East Africa as part of a twin effort to improve the region’s connectivity and tap into its abundant reserves of strategic minerals. Last week, a consortium of Chinese companies won a US$2.15 billion deal to build a railway line linking Tanzania’s main port of Dar es Salaam with Burundi’s nickel mines. It was the third contract of its kind to be awarded to firms from China and will take 72 months to deliver, including a 12-month... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3297451/africas-expanding-rail-links-benefit-chinese-contractors-and-mineral-needs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3297451/africas-expanding-rail-links-benefit-chinese-contractors-and-mineral-needs?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Feb 2025 04:00:09 +0000 In December 2023, Emma Demopoulos, then aged just 12, became the youngest person from Hong Kong to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa’s highest peak. At 5,895 metres (19,341 feet), Kilimanjaro is considered an extreme altitude mountain trek. Emma completed the climb with her father in eight days: six days up, and two days down. While those tackling the world’s highest free-standing mountain do not require technical climbing skills, they do need a healthy average fitness level to reach... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3291197/she-climbed-mt-kilimanjaro-aged-12-now-hong-kong-teens-giving-back-tanzanian-students?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3291197/she-climbed-mt-kilimanjaro-aged-12-now-hong-kong-teens-giving-back-tanzanian-students?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2024 23:45:07 +0000 For Beijing, the Tanzania-Zambia railway is “a symbol of China-Africa friendship” – a must-visit stop on any diplomatic tour and China’s largest ever African foreign aid project. But five decades after it was first built, Tazara, as it is known, has fallen into disrepair and is in the financial doldrums, with only 10 locomotives in used instead of its capacity of 50. Now Beijing is stepping in, pledging US$1 billion or more to refurbish the ageing railway. The decision to help save Tazara,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3280038/china-bring-tanzania-zambia-railway-back-full-speed-us1-billion-boost?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3280038/china-bring-tanzania-zambia-railway-back-full-speed-us1-billion-boost?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Oct 2024 08:17:11 +0000 Troops have started tactical training in a trilateral counterterrorism drill between China, Tanzania and Mozambique, as Beijing steps up its military diplomacy with African countries. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted battlefield surveys and set up command posts ahead of the start of the “Peace Unity-2024” military exercise, which is set to run until mid-August. They also held some tactical training using armoured fighting vehicles and self-propelled assault guns at the Tanzanian... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3272891/chinas-drills-tanzania-and-mozambique-show-blended-approach-military-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3272891/chinas-drills-tanzania-and-mozambique-show-blended-approach-military-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Aug 2024 04:00:16 +0000 As global powers vie for control over critical mineral trade routes, China plans to spend US$1 billion to refurbish a key railway line connecting Zambia’s copper belt region with the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam under its Belt and Road Initiative. On Wednesday, China’s ambassador to Zambia Du Xiaohui handed over a proposal to rehabilitate the Tazara railway to Zambian Transport Minister Frank Tayali, saying the US$1 billion investment would be done through a public-private partnership (PPP)... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251559/china-plans-spend-us1-billion-revamp-tanzania-zambia-railway-race-control-critical-mineral-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3251559/china-plans-spend-us1-billion-revamp-tanzania-zambia-railway-race-control-critical-mineral-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Feb 2024 09:26:07 +0000 On the coast of Tanzania’s Mafia Island is a blue lagoon – a dreamlike pool of bright turquoise water, filtered and cooled by the mangroves that surround it. Ailars David, a marine conservation warden at the reserve, says there is a plan to build a boardwalk for tourists to reach the lagoon so they can swim surrounded by nature and the freshest of air. “When you look up, you only see trees and the sounds of birds,” David said on Nature, Land Use and Ocean Day,Nature Day”, at the Cop28 UN climate... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3244626/why-mangroves-are-critical-climate-change-fight-and-how-indonesia-and-tanzania-are-using-eco-tourism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3244626/why-mangroves-are-critical-climate-change-fight-and-how-indonesia-and-tanzania-are-using-eco-tourism?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Dec 2023 11:15:18 +0000 The death toll from floods in northern Tanzania following torrential rains this weekend has risen to 63, the prime minister said on Monday, adding to hundreds of other deaths caused by extreme weather in East Africa since seasonal rains began in October. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said in comments broadcast on television that the number of injured stood at 116 people. Landslides had destroyed half of one village he visited, he said. “We are here in front of bodies of our fellows. We have... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3243838/death-toll-tanzania-floods-rises-63-prime-minister-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3243838/death-toll-tanzania-floods-rises-63-prime-minister-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Dec 2023 21:45:12 +0000 Mariko Hill hit an unbeaten half-century and Hong Kong powered their way into the final of the women’s T20 series with a 10-wicket thrashing of Tanzania on Saturday. Hill hammered 66 off 49 balls, as she and opening partner Natasha Miles (34*) chased own the 107 needed for victory with more than five overs to spare at Hong Kong Cricket Club. Victory gives Hong Kong the edge ahead of Sunday’s final against the same opponents, although the day started off very differently for the home... https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3242032/hong-kong-womens-t20-series-hill-and-miles-guide-home-side-crushing-victory-over-tanzania?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3242032/hong-kong-womens-t20-series-hill-and-miles-guide-home-side-crushing-victory-over-tanzania?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Nov 2023 13:56:51 +0000 The head of the women’s wing of Tanzania’s ruling party demanded the castration of male homosexuals on Sunday, during celebrations marking two years in office of Samia Suluhu Hassan, the country’s first female president. “We ask the government to make stiff penalties to offences related to same-sex activities. Such people should be castrated if found guilty,” said Mary Chatanda, the head of the women’s wing of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). Chatanda is considered a conservative hardliner, but is not... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3214095/womens-wing-tanzanian-ruling-party-demands-castration-homosexuals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3214095/womens-wing-tanzanian-ruling-party-demands-castration-homosexuals?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Mar 2023 17:01:30 +0000 Trade between China and Tanzania, one of Africa’s fastest-growing population centres, surged by nearly a quarter last year as the two countries cemented diplomatic ties. Speaking in Hong Kong on Thursday, Tanzanian ambassador to Beijing Mbelwa Kairuki said trade volume reached US$8.31 billion last year, a 23.7 per cent year-on-year increase. Electronics, machinery and vehicles accounted for a big share of Tanzania’s imports from China, while food and copper dominated Chinese imports from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3208906/worlds-investment-frontier-china-tanzania-trade-ties-prosper-firm-diplomatic-footing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3208906/worlds-investment-frontier-china-tanzania-trade-ties-prosper-firm-diplomatic-footing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Feb 2023 13:30:07 +0000 Chinese companies are making a major comeback in Tanzania after two firms won a US$2.2 billion deal to build a railway line to connect landlocked neighbouring nations to Tanzanian ports. The Belt and Road Initiative rail project is expected to open up trading routes for Chinese companies that have invested heavily in resource-rich countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. Chinese companies missed out in the initial phases of the major railroad Tanzania is building to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3204476/chinese-companies-back-track-tanzania-after-winning-us22-billion-railway-contract?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3204476/chinese-companies-back-track-tanzania-after-winning-us22-billion-railway-contract?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Dec 2022 10:00:14 +0000 At least 19 people were killed when a plane operated by Tanzania’s Precision Air crash-landed into Lake Victoria on approach to the lakeside city of Bukoba, the country’s prime minister said on Sunday. “All Tanzanians join you in mourning these 19 people … who have lost their lives,” Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa told a crowd after arriving at Bukoba Airport, where the flight had been scheduled to land from financial capital Dar es Salaam. Flight PW494 “crash-landed” into the lake as it was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3198651/least-19-dead-tanzania-passenger-plane-crashes-lake-victoria?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3198651/least-19-dead-tanzania-passenger-plane-crashes-lake-victoria?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Nov 2022 15:45:47 +0000 Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has won her country multimillion dollar deals with China in her first state visit to Beijing since taking office. Hassan’s Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping noted it was also the first visit to China by an African leader since last month’s 20th Communist Party Congress. Tanzania’s Hassan makes state visit to China with projects on her mind Hassan and Xi witnessed the signing of 15 strategic agreements on Thursday, including an upgrade of the Tanzania-Zambia... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3198405/china-tanzania-ties-sealed-15-agreements-during-presidential-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3198405/china-tanzania-ties-sealed-15-agreements-during-presidential-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:30:12 +0000 The stalled US$10 billion Bagamoyo mega-port and other Chinese-funded projects are expected to top the agenda during Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s state visit to China from Wednesday. China’s foreign ministry said President Xi Jinping would host a welcome ceremony and banquet for Hassan, who will be in China until November 4. “The two heads of state will hold talks and attend the signing ceremony of cooperation documents,” ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday. Hassan will be... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3197985/tanzanias-hassan-makes-state-visit-china-projects-her-mind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3197985/tanzanias-hassan-makes-state-visit-china-projects-her-mind?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Nov 2022 09:30:08 +0000 China will help reconstruct the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara) – its largest foreign aid project in Africa ever. The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has been appointed to carry out a feasibility study on the project, the Chinese embassy in Zambia announced. “China is making every effort to prepare for the reactivation of the railway upon Zambian and Tanzanian request again,” Chinese ambassador to Lusaka Du Xiaohui said, adding that Beijing will engage the Zambian and Tanzanian... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3189645/50-years-chinese-role-africas-freedom-railway-zambia-tanzania?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3189645/50-years-chinese-role-africas-freedom-railway-zambia-tanzania?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Aug 2022 04:00:14 +0000