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Africa

Africa
Africa
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Africa. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Workers load trucks for export to Africa at Yantai port in Shandong province this month. The jump in Africa’s trade deficit with China was driven by a 25.8 per cent surge in Chinese exports, outpacing 5.4 per cent growth in African shipments to China. Photo: AFP
China-Africa relations

China widens trade gap with Africa to record US$102 billion amid US pressure

Data points to growing African trade deficit as Trump imposes tariffs, and African demand for manufactured goods and commodity price spikes.

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Diplomacy

Opinion | Why so many states reject bloc rivalry to choose partnership with China

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Belt and Road Initiative

China ramps up Belt and Road deals amid US competition

Belt and Road Initiative

US trade war? China had bigger plans in 2025 as ‘belt and road’ deals surged

China’s global infrastructure strategy logged a record US$213 billion of new deals in 2025, as metals projects in Central Asia soared, report finds.

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Security guards patrol a lithium project in Zimbabwe. China’s engagement in metals and mining projects surged last year, according to a report by the Griffith Asia Institute. Photo: EPA-EFE
China-Africa relations

How China is ramping up Africa charm offensive to boost cultural ties, influence

Beijing dedicates 2026 to ‘cultural and social diplomacy’ across the continent, with 600 activities aimed at fostering strong friendships.

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Uganda

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni wins in election marred by fraud claims

Museveni’s main rival, Bobi Wine, claimed there was ‘massive ballot stuffing’ and that his party’s polling agents were abducted.

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Natural disasters

Over 100 dead in torrential rains and floods across southern Africa

Thousands have been forced to evacuate in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, with helicopters plucking people to safety.

Residents sit on a Mozambique military truck transporting them across floodwater that blocked a road in the Boane district on Friday. Photo: AFP
Uganda

Museveni leads Uganda vote as Bobi Wine under house arrest amid violence claims

Uganda election marred by violence and internet blackout as one MP accuses security forces of killing 10 supporters at his home during crackdown.

China-Africa relations

Why ‘monumental’ China duty-free trade deal has Kenya wanting more

Preliminary ‘early harvest’ framework grants zero-duty entry to over 98 per cent of Kenyan exports, as Nairobi pushes for 100 per cent access.

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Pakistan

Pakistan’s arms deals cleared for take-off as orders soar for JF-17 jets

The jets, co-produced with China, proved their worth during the India-Pakistan tensions, when they destroyed an S-400 air defence system.

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A visitor takes a look at a JF-17 jet fighter during an air show in Dubai in 2017. Photo: Reuters
India

Trump’s 500% tariff push raises risk of India-US trade freeze

Such punitive tariffs would erode India’s export competitiveness and force the country to reorient its trade elsewhere, analysts warn.

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A train carrying cargo containers rides along a railway track in Ajmer, India, in August 2025. The US is India’s largest export market, receiving about 18 per cent of its total goods exports. Photo: AFP
Uganda

Uganda shuts down internet as Museveni seeks to extend 40-year rule

Government imposes a blackout as the 81-year-old leader moves to secure a seventh term in Thursday’s election.

China trade

As China’s US exports plunge, Beijing banks on diversification for 2026 growth

Shipments to Asean and Africa surged to drive a record US$1.19 trillion surplus for China, offsetting headwinds as leaders push to boost local demand.

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Iran

Iranians use Musk’s Starlink to pierce internet blackout during protests

Smuggled satellite terminals offer a high-risk lifeline as Iran’s protest death toll climbs.

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Cars burn in a street during a protest in Tehran on January 8. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters
China-Africa relations

China’s Wang Yi cites ‘severe risks’ after Somalia dropped from Africa itinerary

In a call with the Somali foreign minister, China’s top envoy reiterates Beijing’s support for Somalia’s territorial integrity.

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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was supposed to visit Mogadishu as part of his African tour but he instead went to Tanzania on Friday. Photo: AFP
China-Africa relations

China urges Tanzania to back multilateralism, will ‘stand together’ with Africa

Top diplomat Wang Yi also reaffirms support for Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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Chinese offshore investment

How China’s global investment model is changing – and what it means for the yuan

The trade war, weak domestic demand and stronger policy support push more firms to invest overseas, with growing implications for currency.

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China-Africa relations

China FM Wang Yi opens Africa tour with united call for rules-based order

In Ethiopia, Wang joins African Union leader Mahmoud Ali Youssouf in voicing concerns over US raid on Venezuela.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, chairman of the African Union Commission, in Addis Ababa on Thursday. Photo: EPA
Saudi Arabia

US allies Saudi Arabia, UAE risk a split in Middle East over competing visions

A ‘new order’ is emerging as Abu Dhabi-backed separatist allies clash with pro-Riyadh governments in the region.

France

Europe paralysed by snow as brutal cold snap disrupts flights, rail services

Thousands stranded as chaos grounds flights, with black ice sparking fatal accidents, while death toll rises to six in season’s worst freeze.

War and conflict

War in Sudan: drone strikes cut power supply in oil-rich south

Over the past week, some 15,000 people have been displaced from the region, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

Sudanese protesters take part in a rally in support of the Sudanese Army and against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Merowe, about 330 kilometres north of Khartoum, Sudan, on December 13 last year. Photo: EPA-EFE
Italy

Owner of Swiss bar where New Year fire killed 40 insists safety norms followed

‘Everything was done according to the regulations,’ Jacques Moretti, a Frenchman who manages the Le Constellation bar, told local media.

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People light candles near the sealed Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland on Friday where a devastating fire left 40 dead and dozens injured during the New Year celebrations. Photo; AP
Middle East

Saudi-UAE rivalry explodes into view after strike in war-torn Yemen

Gulf powers Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are at odds over rival factions and a deepening struggle for regional pre-eminence.

South Africa

41 young men die in South Africa from circumcision procedures

The procedures were done as part of traditional initiation, a rite of passage into manhood for young men from various ethnic groups.

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China trade

How the ‘world’s supermarket’ rode out Trump’s tariffs – and grew even stronger

Yiwu, one of China’s biggest export hubs, was expected to take a hit from US tariffs. Instead, it has seen trade surge.

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Vendors work at the Yiwu International Trade Market, a vast emporium for wholesale goods often dubbed the “world’s supermarket”, in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. The city has recorded strong growth in exports this year despite the US-China trade war. Photo: AFP
Electric & new energy vehicles

China’s EV makers to corner one-third of global market by 2030, UBS says

Analysts see China’s EV edge enduring, citing overseas profits and supply chain strengths despite tariffs and Western protectionism.

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China’s carmakers are projected to generate most of their profits overseas. Photo: Reuters
United States

Zohran Mamdani takes over as New York mayor in the era of Trump

Mamdani sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Koran as he took his oath.

United States

‘Equivalent measures’: Mali, Burkina Faso restrict entry for US citizens

The African nations said they were imposing the travel restrictions after the US included them, and others, on a no-entry list.

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