1. China in Africa

China’s FAW invests R600m to build vehicle plant at Coega IDZ
First Automobile Works (FAW), the Chinese vehicle manufacturer, is to invest R600 million in South Africa in a state-of-the-art truck and passenger car plant at the Coega industrial development zone (IDZ) outside Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. The investment, which is being jointly funded by FAW and the China-Africa Development Fund, is expected to create 500 permanent jobs in the Eastern Cape in the first phase.
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China to partner Nigeria on infrastructure
The Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala led Nigerian delegation to China has returned back to the country with a report of enhanced strategic relationship with the Chinese government and a special investment support to the tune of about $3.5 billion. The 18 member delegation which comprises of some state governors, ministers and lawmakers tripped to China last week to seek investors in infrastructural development from China.
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Uganda fails to exploit China's trade incentive
Despite the Special Preferential Treatment (SPT) offered by China to Uganda and a number of African countries to export goods at zero tariffs, Uganda's chances of reaping benefits from the free trade arrangement remain scanty. Even with over 4,401 products eligible for export to China, Uganda's Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), the process of inferring comparative advantage from observed data, is limited to a range of products. These findings were presented at a one-day conference on Reshaping Uganda's Trade Competitiveness within the region organised by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC). Participants argued that for Uganda to improve her strategic investment interventions in the export sector, it has to identify commodities where it has comparative advantage over China and her EAC counterparts.
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China-Africa: 2nd ECOWAS-China forum to hold in Ghana
Ghana will host the second edition of the ECOWAS-China forum from 20-21 March in Accra, during which private-sector operators will seek to develop partnerships in six key areas with Chinese firms, the West African sub-regional body announced here Wednesday. In a statement issued from its Abuja headquarters, ECOWAS said the six key areas of partnership were mainly infrastructure development -- specifically roads, railways, housing, construction and transportation.
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Ghana to establish new missions in Turkey, China but closes embassy in Serbia
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni on Wednesday said in Parliament that Cabinet had approved proposals submitted by the Ministry, to establish new missions in some countries. These are Ankara, Turkey and a Consulate-General in Guanghou, provincial capital of Guangdong, Southern China.
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Morsi Receives Chinese Delegation
Dr. Mohamed Morsi, Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), received, on Sunday evening, a delegation which included China's Ambassador to Cairo, Song Aiguo and Deputy Director-General of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, Jiang Jianhua at the FJP’s headquarters in Manyal Alrodah. Welcoming the Chinese officials and their accompanying delegation, Dr. Morsi underscored the importance of the Chinese role in the international arena, through which China should achieve a fair balance in international relations. He also underlined the importance of Egyptian-Chinese relations, with Egypt being China’s gateway into Africa.
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2. India in Africa

India inks $1 mn pact to train African craftswomen
The National Institute of Design and the external affairs ministry have inked a USD 1 million MoU to train and empower craftswomen in five African countries, it was announced here Wednesday. In January, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, during a meeting in Harare with his Zimbabwean counterpart Welshman Ncube, had said that the National Institute of Design (NID) was undertaking a project for the training and exposure for craftswomen of rural Africa to empower them through design intervention in basketry making, as part of the India-Africa Forum Summit Action Plan.
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India, Africa discuss science and technology co-operation news
India and the African Union today kicked off a two-day high-level interaction to identify areas of cooperation in the field of science and technology. The first India-Africa science and technology ministers' conference and technology exposition got off to a business-like start with Vilasrao Deshmukh, minister for science and technology and earth sciences, reiterating India's commitments to cooperation in science, technology and innovation with African countries as outlined in the declarations of India-Africa Summits.
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Bharti to replicate India business model in Africa
Bharti Airtel plans to replicate its Indian model in the African markets as the company seeks to grow faster, Airtel Africa Manoj Kohli, CEO (international) and joint MD of Bharti Airtel said. In a ground-breaking move, Airtel in 2003 outsourced its entire backend operations to Ericsson to focus specifically on customer management and brand building, which has since become a norm for the industry across the world.
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22,000 new scholarships for African students in various academic courses: Preneet Kaur
Highlighting India's commitment to development in Africa, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said here on Thursday that 22,000 new scholarships for African students in various academic courses and training programmes, including special agriculture scholarships and C.V. Raman fellowships have been made available. Kaur, who was addressing the inaugural session of India-Africa Science and Technology Ministerial Conference, said proposals for the institutional strengthening of identified institutions in Africa and the transfer of need based technologies have also been initiated.
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India ready to help fight piracy in Africa
India has expressed readiness to contribute to international efforts to tackle the threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. "India stands ready to contribute to international efforts aimed at increasing effective cooperation among States in the region to tackle the threat of piracy and armed robbery at sea," Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri told the UN Security Council Monday.
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3. In Other Emerging Powers News

BRICS to look at bid for top World Bank job
The world's major emerging economies on Saturday rejected the tradition that an American automatically is selected to head the World Bank and they will look at putting forward their own candidate for the open job. Finance chiefs from the BRICS group of emerging market powerhouses – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – met on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Mexico City and agreed the top World Bank job should be open to all countries.
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4. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

A chair will not bolster SA's position
The commodity boom of the past decade and the rise of China and India have brought fresh challenges for Africa. In times when a dominant power is in relative decline and dauphins are emerging, instability in the international system is historically the result. Africa, because of its resources and huge economic and consumer potential, will be a focal point as these geopolitical and economic shifts play themselves out.
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Chinese and US health programs in Africa have more in common than you might think
Concerns have been expressed in the Western media that Chinese aid to Africa represents a form of “new colonialism.” 1 However, comparing Chinese and US health programs in Africa suggests that the two have more in common than might be expected. Both countries’ health efforts in the region share similarities in terms of objectives, priorities and challenges.
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The end of state capitalism in China?
A report out of the World Bank on Monday called for China to scale back on the dominance of state-owned companies and complete the transition to an open market economy, or face potential collapse. The report apparently has the endorsement of Beijing’s most powerful leaders. But can it really be as simple as that? And what are the implications for South Africa, which has only recently begun to emulate the Chinese model?
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