The Namibian published on 28 June 2026 an article titled "Namibia in Numbers: Namibia's Uranium Output" by Ida Williams.
Namibia produces 12 percent of the world's uranium output and is the third ranking producer after Kazakhstan and Canada. The two largest mines in Namibia are owned by Chinese companies: the Husab mine by China General Nuclear Power and the Rossing mine by China National Uranium Corporation. An Australian company owns the third mine, which accounts for less production.
The International Crisis Group posted on 15 May 2026 a 35-minute podcast titled "Sudan, and a Region and World in Upheaval" with Alan Boswell and Nasrine Malik, journalist and author.
The long-standing problem in Sudan is the control over resources by a certain group and the marginalization of the rest. The old Sudan is gone and cannot be reconstructed. The country requires a whole new approach, which may take years or more to achieve.
The United States and United Kingdom lack either the interest or ability to bring the civil war to an end. As the United States withdraws from Africa, the European Union is drifting and not ready to replace the void being left by the United States.
Nasrine Malik discussed the impact of the war in Iran on Africa generally. It has the potential to destabilize African economies. The Western conception of human rights is on the wane and being replaced by an individualistic approach to certain human rights challenges.
Discovery Alert, an AI -powered mining news publisher, posted on 27 January 2026 an article titled "Zijin Mining's $4 Billion Allied Gold Acquisition Reshapes African Mining" by Muflih Hidayat.
Hong Kong's Zijin Gold International Company signed an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares in Canadian company Allied Gold for an equity value of about $4 billion in an all-cash deal. Allied Gold has assets in gold mines in Ethiopia, Mali, and Cote d'Ivoire. This acquisition represents a sophisticated deployment of Chinese capital in African mining consolidation.
Newsweek published on 18 November 2025 a commentary titled "Sudan's Genocide Is Happening in Plain Sight--and the West Is Enabling It" by Faisal Kutty, Canadian journalist.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are openly committing genocide in Sudan's Darfur Region. Western governments denounce the killings but support the UAE, which is assisting the RSF.
The South China Morning Post published on 2 July 2025 an article titled "Move to Shore Up Supply of Copper from African Mines" by Jevans Nyabiage.
China is positioning itself to secure more copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Botswana in an effort to dominate the transition to green energy.
The Conversation posted on 28 April 2025 a commentary titled "What Canada Can Learn from China on Effectively Engaging with Africa" by Isaac Odoom, Carleton University.
To build meaningful partnerships in Africa, Canada needs a more focused approach grounded in robust research, sharper priorities, and an informed understanding of Africa's political and economic realities.
The author argues Canada can draw important lessons from China's engagement in Africa. The "countering China" narrative pursued by the United States ignores African agency and fails to acknowledge that African governments want a choice of partners and do not want to be forced to select just one. Rather than compete with China in Africa, Canada can fill gaps left by China.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies published on 25 March 2025 an analysis titled "How to Successfully Merge USAID and the Department of State" by Daniel F. Runde.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the State Department will administer what remains of USAID programs. The author notes that numerous other aid donor countries have followed this pattern, and the US could learn from them. The author then proposes a number of steps needed to merge State and USAID successfully.
Comment: This scenario makes some sense if done thoughtfully and in advance of the dismantlement of USAID. It holds little chance of succeeding after USAID has been dismantled and its personnel dispersed unless the goal is to retain virtually nothing of former American foreign aid programs.
At the turn of the last century, the United States Information Service (USIA) merged with State and became the public affairs division of State. It was done methodically, thoughtfully, and with great effort to preserve most of its former programs. But even in this case, the State Department public affairs division has never lived up to the success of the former USIA.
GZERO published on 6 February 2025 a commentary titled "The End of US Soft Power?" by Evan Soloman.
The author concluded that "US soft power is not gone; it's just diminished. American culture, innovation, and institutions remain resilient to challenges and attractive to billions of people." But the killing of the US Agency for International Development strikes a major blow against US soft power and hard power options are now the most prominent tools available to American foreign policy.
Development Reimagined published in November 2024 a study titled "Africa-China Cooperation in Critical Minerals: Centering Africa's Development in a Global Race."
Critical minerals account for almost 20 percent of Africa's total exports and contribute 28 percent of its GDP. By 2022, critical minerals represented about 24 percent of China's total FDI stock in Africa. Chinese mining companies account for 8 percent of Africa's total mining output and China ranks 5th in terms of mine ownership. China has substantial stakes in Africa's lithium, copper, and cobalt mining projects--key minerals for EV batteries.
It is essential that Africa develops strategies to protect and maximize the benefits from its critical minerals. Despite the significant role mining plays in Africa-China relations, Development Reimagined says China should specify and enhance its commitments to the minerals sector to include geoscience and geology cooperation, research and development in mining technologies, human resource training, infrastructure development, value addition, and supply chain upgrading.
Canada's Institute for Research on Public Policy published on its digital Policy Options platform on 26 September 2024 a commentary titled "As China Courts Africa, Canada Must Rethink Its Africa Strategy" by Isaac Odoom, Carleton University.
The expansion of China's engagement in Africa poses a challenge for Canada to find a path to work with Africa in a meaningful way. The author says Canada should offer something distinct from Western paternalism and China's transactional partnerships. He suggests that Canada leverage its African diaspora, capitalize on strength in green energy and digital innovation, invest in training African youth, and promote good governance.
The Washington Post published on 19 June 2024 an article titled "Futures on Hold, Dreams of Escape" by Malin Fezehai and Rael Ombuor.
In 1991, UNHCR established a refugee camp at Dadaab in neighboring Kenya for Somalis fleeing the conflict between government forces and the al-Shabaab terrorist organization. Today, Dadaab is still 97 percent Somali and houses 380,000 people. The refugees once dreamed of returning to a peaceful Somalia; now they dream of being resettled in North America or Australia by UNHCR. One of the few tickets out of Dadaab is superior performance in high school and admission to a university
The Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis posted on 2 April 2024 a commentary titled "Confronting the China Challenge in Africa: The Lobito Corridor" by Eduardo Castellet Nogues.
The US Development Finance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank, together with European partners, are funding a huge infrastructure project in the Lobito Corridor that runs from Zambia's copper fields, through the mineral rich Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the Angolan port of Lobito. China has been the principal infrastructure partner in this part of Africa throughout this century. If the project is successful, it could counter China's Belt and Road Initiative in this part of Africa.
The Associated Press published on 19 December 2023 an article titled "Pentagon Announces New International Maritime Protection Force for the Red Sea."
At any given time, there are about 400 commercial vessels transiting the southern Red Sea in an area where Iranian-supported and Yemen-based Houthis are attacking commercial shipping with drones and ballistic missiles. Consequently, the United States has organized Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect all ships transiting the Red Sea. So far, the UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain have joined the security mission.
One notably absent participant is China, which has three PLA Navy ships (usually two frigates and a supply ship) permanently assigned in the area. So far, those ships have not responded to previous calls for assistance by commercial vessels even though some of the ships attacked have had ties to Hong Kong.
Ernst and Young Global Limited published in November 2023 "A Pivot to Growth: EY Attractiveness/Africa."
This is a trends and insights report that provides readers with a deeper understanding of the investment flows into the African market. The section showing which countries provide the most FDI to Africa is especially revealing and underscores recent trends that are not well appreciated.
From 2018 through 2022, the country financing the largest total number of projects in Africa was the United States, followed by France, United Kingdom, Germany, and China. In 2022 alone, the United States led in total number of FDI projects at 93, followed by 78 for France, 64 for the UK, 60 for the UAE, 44 for Switzerland, 37 for Germany, and 21 for China.
When measured in terms of capital investment in 2022, the UAE led with $49.9 billion, followed by France at $26.5 billion, India at $22.2 billion, and the UK at $19.2 billion. US capital investment in 2022 ranked 5th at $6.8 billion, followed by Canada at $5.1 billion, and China at $2.6 billion.
When looked at over a longer period of time, China does better. Cumulative FDI between 2016 and 2022 puts China in fourth place by total projects and second by capital investment, behind the UAE. Chinese FDI has also created more jobs per project than any other country. But the trend is clear, Chinese FDI in Africa is on the decline.
The Washington Post published on 29 September 2023 an article titled "Sudan's Diaspora Sends Home Aid As World's Attention Drifts" by Miriam Berger.
About 70,000 Sudanese live in the United States, some of the largest communities are in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The article describes some of the efforts by the Sudanese diaspora, especially in the Washington area, to raise funds for their countrymen to deal with the ongoing challenges of war.
Ethiopia Insight published on 30 April 2023 a commentary titled "Is Peace Finally Coming to Ethiopia's Oromia Region?" by Ermias Tasfaye, Ethiopia Insight reporter.
Talks on Zanzibar between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Army are giving rise to hopes that peace may be coming to Oromia.
S&P Global published on 21 April 2023 an article titled "Priced Out by Russian Oil, African Producers Find New Customers Post-war."
West African crude producers, especially Nigeria, Angola, and Congo-Brazzaville, have been forced to find new markets for their oil since the Ukraine war because China and India are now buying cheap Russian crude. As a result, more West African crude is going to North America, Netherlands, Singapore, and the UK. Russia has become the top crude supplier to China and India. West African crude now accounts for only 9 percent of China's imported oil.
Just Security published on 3 November 2022 a commentary titled "Only Holding All to Account in Ethiopia Will Ensure Its Survival" by Mehari Taddele Maru and David Del Conte.
The authors argue there must be accountability for the human rights atrocities in Ethiopia or there will be no lasting peace.
The government of Canada introduced on 31 October 2022 a statement titled "Joint Statement on Behalf of 50 Countries in the UN General Assembly Third Committee on the Human Rights Situation in Xinjiang, China."
The statement commented that "we are gravely concerned about the human rights situation in the People's Republic of China, especially the ongoing human rights violations of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang."
Although most of the 50 signatories were western countries, three African states (Liberia, Somalia, and eSwatini) also signed. eSwatini is the only country in Africa that has diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Ethiopia Insight published on 1 July 2022 a commentary titled "Neoliberalism Has Enabled Genocide in Tigray" by Mulubrhan Balehegn, researcher at University of Florida.
While most Ethiopian critics of US policy concerning the civil war in Ethiopia have accused it of supporting the Tigrayan cause, this author argues that the US and Western governments enabled the war in Tigray by not condemning it and refusing to intervene or even labeling it as genocide.
