1. China in Africa

Malawi vendors chase out Chinese
Vendors in Kalonga, the Northern district of Malawi, on Wednesday petitioned the District Commissioner to flash out all Chinese nationals who are doing their businesses in the district. The petition, signed by over 33 representatives of the vendors, says the Chinese investors have gone over bound taking over small-scale business which the natives can ably do.
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China starts trade talks with Libya
A Chinese Commerce Ministry delegation held talks Monday with Libyan officials on bilateral cooperation and resumption of Chinese businesses in post-war Libya. The Chinese delegation, led by Wang Shenyang, director of the ministry's Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Department, is seeking China's participation in Libya's post-war reconstruction and to negotiate on obstacles facing Chinese companies resuming projects here.
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China skirting African corruption in direct aid gifts; Uganda’s president gets a new office
China last month sent a senior official to symbolically hand over the keys to a nine-story twin tower to house Uganda’s president and prime minister, a gift from Beijing. The white structures with a sloping roof cost China $27 million to build. But — in a strategy that China is increasingly employing around Africa — Beijing didn’t just deliver the money and let Ugandan officials see the project through. It was built by Chinese workers in what aid watchdogs applaud as a model to help defeat the inefficiencies and cash-pocketing corruption associated with other systems of foreign aid delivery.
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Sudan Rebels Free Kidnapped Chinese Workers
Twenty-nine Chinese workers kidnapped in Sudan have been freed, 11 days after they were taken hostage by rebels in Southern Kordofan state. The Red Cross flew the workers from the Kauda area in Southern Kordofan on Tuesday to Nairobi where they were handed over to Chinese embassy officials.
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Breathing fire into SA-China trade
South African-Chinese trade increased by a massive 77 percent last year when compared to 2010, according to official statistics. And it should remain strong this year – the Chinese Year of the Dragon – despite the economic woes facing Europe and other countries. China has enjoyed rapid growth which has seen foreign delegations and business flock to the mainland in search of ties – including South Africa which was invited to join the BRICS (the acronym coined by Goldman Sachs banker Jim O’Neill in search for the next “big thing”).
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2. India in Africa

Congo invites Indian companies to invest in timber
Home to one of Africa's largest forest expanses, the Republic of Congo wants Indian companies to invest in the timber industry, the second biggest money-spinner after oil in the central African country, says its Forestry and Environment Minister Henri Djombo. "We have a big timber industry and would want Indian private companies to come and invest in the our timber companies," Djombo said in an interview here.
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Ethiopia seeks Indian help to train rookie diplomats
Like many countries in Africa, Ethiopia has sought India's help in setting up an institute to train rookie diplomats. A four-member delegation from Ethiopia's foreign ministry is in India to take home a few lessons on establishing its Foreign Services Training Institute and on how to run it. The team is also looking to forge relations between its strategic affairs and diplomacy institutions and those from India such as the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), a strategic affairs and diplomacy think tank established in 1943 that now enjoys statutory body status.
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India: Africa operation boosts revenue of Indian telecoms firm
The local media Friday quoted the company as saying in a statement that the revenue growth was particularly strong in Nigeria and other African operations, which boosted the revenue by 32 per cent to US$1.057 million. Airtel currently operates in about 13 African countries, including Nigeria,. Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Seychelles and Zambia.
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3. In Other Emerging Powers News
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister expresses support to UNAMID peace efforts
The Head of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Joint Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari, received today Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov at UNAMID's Headquarters in El Fasher, Darfur. The visit of the Deputy Foreign Minister took place further to discussions held by the JSR with senior Russian officials last November in Moscow.
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4. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

The Chinese model is morbidly obese
South Africa wants to adopt 'the Chinese economic model', President Jacob Zuma is expected to announce this week. This would be a very grave mistake. The Chinese miracle is not what it seems. Just like with the American and European debt crises, this will become painfully clear soon enough.
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China’s Growing Role in Africa: Myths and Facts
China’s emergence as a major player in Africa’s trade, investment, and aid has led many to question the nature of its involvement. Critics say that China is only interested in resources, its exports to Africa threaten local industries, and it is displacing Africa’s traditional partners, like the United States.
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The west has no right to criticise the China-Africa relationship
We all know that China has firmly arrived in Africa, but do we know what that means in practice, or how things are changing? Much has been said about this phenomenon, but often based on little research and/or tainted with a hardly disguised nationalistic slant in which China is seen as a competitor or usurper.
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AU Optimistic on FOCAC Membership
This year, the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in China. Recently, Ambassador John Kayode Shinkaiye, Chief of Staff, Bureau of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), shared his thoughts with ChinAfrica reporter Liu Wei on the role that FOCAC has played in strengthening Sino-African relations, at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His thoughts are as follows
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China's tightening grip on Africa
China has promised more gifts for Africa in the Year of the Dragon. But, behind pledges of food and financial aid, skills development, assistance with building infrastructure and win-win economic ties, lies a cunning strategy to become more politically powerful by convincing us all its intentions are noble. This is revealed in a close inspection of China's African Policy.
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