The Center for Strategic and International Studies published on 18 November 2024 a commentary titled "China's Smart Cities in Africa: Should the United States Be Concerned?" by Jason Warner and Toyasi Alibade.
Chinese surveillance technology is in wide use in African cities governed in some cases by authoritarian regimes, which raises questions about its abuse. Nine African countries currently use Chinese-backed "smart city" surveillance systems.
The South China Morning Post published on 19 November 2024 an article titled "Do the Communist Party's Ties in Africa Pay Economic Dividends for China?" by Jevans Nyabiage.
The Communist Party of China has interacted for decades with political parties in Africa. It is not clear, however, whether closer party-to-party relations are the primary driver for more Chinese investment and funding in an African country.
Reuters published on 18 November 2024 an article titled "Russia Vetoes UN Security Council Action on Sudan War" by Daphne Psaledakis and David Brunnstrom.
Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called on warring parties to cease hostilities immediately and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid. All other countries of the 15-member UNSC voted in favor of the resolution drafted by the UK and Sierra Leone.
Megatrends Afrika published in October 2024 a policy brief titled "Pragmatic, Strategic and Wide-Reaching: The CCP's Party Diplomacy in Africa" by Christine Hackenesch and Julia Bader.
The policy brief analyses recent patterns and motives of China's party diplomacy in Africa. It finds that the CCP maintains close ties with the main ruling parties in southern Africa and in some countries in East Africa, while engaging with a broad range of parties in countries in North Africa. Beijing's party diplomacy in Africa seeks to promote China's core foreign policy interests, advance an alternative narrative on global China, and normalize China's authoritarian system.
India's News9 posted on 15 November 2024 a two-minute video titled "Red Sea Tensions: Houthis Attack US Destroyers, Face Retaliation; 10 Killed."
The video summarizes video coverage of Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, including the recent unsuccessful attack on two US destroyers.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine posted on 12 November 2024 a study titled "War-Time Mortality in Sudan: A Capture-Recapture Analysis."
The civil war in Sudan has resulted in a higher death rate than previously reported. The number of intentional-injury deaths in Khartoum alone surpass those estimated for the entire country in the first 14 months of the war. This suggests extensive underreporting of a severe mortality impact in Khartoum and likely across Sudan.
The Voice of America published on 15 November 2024 an article titled "Western Diplomats Urge Somaliland Leaders to Accept Election Results" by Harun Maruf.
Although the ballot counting process is not finished, Western diplomats who monitored the 13 November election in Somaliland urged the three presidential candidates and their supporters to accept the results. The observers said the election was peaceful although polling stations in some parts of Somaliland did not open because of conflict.
The National Interest published on 15 November 2024 a commentary titled "Donald Trump Can't Ignore Africa" by Lilly Harvey, American Foreign Policy Council.
Critical of both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration's inattention to Africa, the author argues for a more robust US policy toward the continent in the second Trump administration because of the growing importance of the 54 countries that constitute the region.
The European Council on Foreign Relations published on 7 November 2024 a paper titled "Material World: How Europe Can Compete with China in the Race for Africa's Critical Minerals" by Sarah Logan.
The author argues the European Union must enhance support to European companies to invest in securing access to critical raw materials. This should include new financial incentives and measures to protect against China manipulating prices on international markets.
The Associated Press published on 13 November 2024 an article titled "Nigeria Signs $1.2 Billion Deal with Chinese State-owned Company to Revamp Key Gas Plant" by Dyepkazah Shibayan.
Nigeria signed a $1.2 billion deal with Chinese state-owned CNCEC and BFI Group to revitalize a gas processing facility. The deal is intended to revive the 135 million standard cubic feet gas processing facility at the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria.
The New York-based Soufan Center published on 5 November 2024 an article titled "Houthis Continue Regional and Global Expansion, Networking with Terror Groups and State Sponsors of Terrorism."
Houthi rebels in Yemen have extended their operational links to the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. There is also growing cooperation between the Houthis and Russia.
The Diplomat published on 11 November 2024 a commentary titled "Africa-India Ties: The Continent's Next Big Relationship or Over-Hyped?" by Barnaby Joseph Dye, King's College London, and Punkhuri Kumar, Imperial College London.
The authors argue that the Africa-India relationship is not yet living up to expectations. Considerable barriers are preventing opportunities from being realized. This will only change when, or if, New Delhi is able to increase governmental capacity to boost political ties and development cooperation.
Ohio State's East Asian Studies Center and Center for African Studies, in conjunction with Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service Africa-China Initiative and George Washington University's East Asia National Resource Center are hosting on 15 November 2024 an event titled "New Perspectives on China and Africa" from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. Participants may attend in person or via Zoom.
Speakers are:
--China-Africa Security Engagement Since COVID-19 by David Shinn
--Built Higher, Dug Deeper: The Effect on Chinese Debt Financing on African Infrastructure Coverage by Jyhong Hwang
--The Evolution of Chinese Soft Power in Africa: Implications for Technology, African Languages and Cultures in Africa and the Diaspora by Phiwokuhle Mnyandu
--China in Africa, Environmental Governance and Civil Society: The Case of the Kua Forest in Burkina Faso by Asma Amina Belem
--China's Relational Power in Africa: Beijing's "New Type of Party-to-Party Relations" by Joshua Eisenman
Foreign Policy posted on 7 November 2024 an article titled "Russia Is Running an Undeclared War on Western Shipping" by Elisabeth Braw.
Russia has been providing Yemen's Houthi rebels with targeting information for their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthis exempt from attack ships affiliated with Russia and China.
The UK-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) published in October 2024 a study titled "China's Creditor Diversification in Africa" by Tianyi Wu, Oxford University, and Yunnan Chen, ODI.
China's overseas lending is evolving and diversifying. Financing is becoming less concessional and more targeted to commercial sectors in energy and mining. Going forward, commercial creditors are expected to increasingly focus on infrastructure sectors with clear and immediate revenue potential.
Aljazeera posted on 2 November 2024 a ten-minute discussion on waning US influence in Africa with panelists Zainab Usman, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and me.
The focus of the discussion was why the US is losing influence in Africa vis-a-vis China, Russia, the Gulf States, and others. There was also consideration of the US role in counterterrorism on the continent and why the civil war in Sudan has not been brought to an end.
The 2024 fall edition of Middle East Policy contains an article titled "Security in Neutrality: Chinese Engagement in the Middle East and the Red Sea Crisis" by Christopher K. Colley and Joshua R. Goodman, both at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base.
The authors conclude that the primary goal of China in the Red Sea crisis is to use diplomacy to avoid escalation and entanglement in military conflict. Its second preference is to free ride on the efforts of others. If there are clear dangers to Chinese nationals or economic interests, it is prepared to respond militarily.
The Middle East Eye published on 4 November 2024 an article titled "US Elections 2024: Can the Next US President Roll Back the Houthis' Power in the Red Sea?" by Sean Mathews.
The article provides a good analysis of the challenges facing the next US administration as it deals with the Houthi threat to international shipping in the Red Sea.
The Guardian published on 6 November 2024 an article titled "US Cancels $1.1 Bn of Somalia's Debt in 'Historic' Financial Agreement" by Faisal Ali.
Somalia announced the United States will cancel more than $1.1 billion in outstanding loans, which date back to the Siad Barre government that collapsed in 1991. This is the largest single component of Somalia's $4.5 billion external debt.
Other Paris Club members also announced this year they are waiving $2 billion of additional debt. These decisions will allow Somalia to more readily access public financing from international financial institutions.
The International Crisis Group posted on 7 November 2024 a 32-minute podcast titled "Inside Sudan's Catastrophic Civil War" with Elissa Jobson and Mohanad Hashim, Sudanese journalist with the BBC.
Mohanad Hashim travelled by road from Port Sudan on the Red Sea to Omdurman, across the White Nile from Khartoum, escorted by troops from the Sudan Armed Forces. He provides insightful analysis of the situation in Sudan.
The devastation in this part of Sudan is near total. He said the younger generation of Sudanese believes a new Sudan needs to be formed; the previous generation of leaders is not up to the task. He concludes that neither side can win a military victory; it is a war of attrition.
The South China Morning Post published on 5 November 2024 an article titled "With Chinese Official's Visit, Kenyan President Says Deal to Fund and Build Highway Is Close" by Jevans Nyabiage.
Kenya's ruling United Democratic Alliance party held talks with a visiting senior Chinese Communist Party official to learn from Communist Party successes in political party building and to seek support for party training facilities.
The Wall Street Journal published on 6 November 2024 an article titled "The New Investment Superpower Outflanking China and the U.S. in Africa" by Nicholas Bariyo.
In 2022 and 2023, the United Arab Emirates far outpaced both China and the United States as the single largest source of foreign direct investment in Africa.
American Diplomacy published in November 2024 a commentary titled "China in Africa: The Nuanced Reality of Belt and Road" by Hank Cohen, former US assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
The author points out that China has shifted from doing infrastructure projects based on loans to working on a grant basis. China is now providing much needed infrastructure for African countries without the harm of tying them up in debt. He concludes that the reality of China's Africa policy contains more shades of grey than popularly understood. The positives for Africans are real, but so are the potential pitfalls.
Ethiopia Insight published on 5 November 2024 a commentary titled "Now the Birr Floats, Will Ethiopia Sink or Swim?" by Muktar Ismail, regional analyst and former advisor to the president of Somali Region.
Last July, Ethiopia adopted a market-determined exchange rate, lifted most current account restrictions, and modernized its monetary policy framework in order to pave the way for International Monetary Fund and World Bank bailouts.
Ethiopia has regressed from two decades of economic and social progress and faces growing economic challenges. The recent economic policy reform has witnessed a plummeting depreciation of the currency and strong inflationary pressure. The author concludes that IMF and donor financing are unlikely to stabilize an economy plagued by conflict, poor management, and rapid currency depreciation.
The Institute of Development Studies Bulletin published on 28 October 2024 a study titled "Can Social Assistance Strengthen the Social Contract in Somalia?" by Julie Lawson McDowall and Ruby D. Khan.
The study challenges the view that externally funded and designed social assistance programming in Somalia might help renew the social contract between the government and Somali nationals. For many living outside Mogadishu, the federal government is irrelevant or predatory, and other local forms of authority are more important with existing elite bargains likely to reinforce existing societal fractures. On the other hand, social assistance has the potential to make a small contribution if there is thoughtful design, greater inclusion, and long-term donor commitment.
