Kenya and China Hold Security Talks on Bilateral Projects

 Capital FM published on 9 December 2025 an article titled "Kenya, China Hold High-Level Security Review on Bilateral Projects" by Bruhan Makong.

Reflecting Chinese concerns about security for its personnel working on infrastructure projects in Kenya, its deputy director general for security cooperation led a delegation to Nairobi to discuss the safety of Chinese nationals, project sites, and equipment undertaken through Kenya-China cooperation.  

Facts About US Foreign Aid

 The Pew Research Center published on 6 February 2025 a fact sheet titled "What the Data Says about U.S. Foreign Aid" by Drew DeSilver.

As the Trump administration dismantles USAID, this fact sheet summarizes how and where U.S. foreign aid has been used.  

Gulf States Change Financing Dynamic in Horn of Africa

The American Enterprise Institute published on 23 April 2019 an analysis titled "Sudan's Windfall from the Gulf and the Perils of New Development Finance" by Karen E. Young.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced in April a $3 billion support package for Sudan. This is one in a long list of financial transfers from the Gulf States to the Horn of Africa. It marks a step away from the traditional role of international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank and puts in doubt development aid financing that follows Bretton Woods principles.

China-U.S. Cooperation in Africa

He Wenping, director of the African Studies Section of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote a commentary in the 6 August 2012 issue of China-US Focus titled "'Trust' Is the Key Word for China-US Cooperation in Africa."

She argues that a sound and trust-based relationship between China and the U.S. can serve as a solid foundation for China-U.S. coordination and cooperation in Africa. I have been making essentially the same argument over the past five years and, in fact, He Wenping quotes me in her commentary.

Click here to read the commentary.

US Aid To Ethiopia

The blog for the Center for Global Development in Washington ran a commentary on 27 August 2012 by Jane Staats and Casey Dunning titled "Rethinking US Foreign Assistance." It noted that Ethiopia is the largest US aid recipient in Africa and suggested that countries like Ethiopia with long serving leaders such as Meles Zenawi should not receive so much US aid in a rethinking of US aid policy.

It is true that Ethiopia is the largest recipient of US aid in Africa, but this argument has several flaws. I am a strong advocate of president/prime minister term limits, but the blog posting misses some important facts. The overwhelming majority of US aid to Ethiopia is emergency food aid or used to combat HIV/AIDS and malaria. Only a small percentage qualifies as development assistance and an insignificant amount goes to military training. Ethiopia has never been eligible for Millennium Challenge Account assistance.

By all means, the US should reward term limits everything else being equal but it is also important to look at the kind of aid being provided.

To read the blog posting, click here.

Oxford University China-Africa Network

The Oxford University China-Africa Network (OUCAN) has held several conferences dealing with different aspects of the China-Africa relationship. For a brief summary of its conference report on Chinese Investment and African Agency, click here.

OUCAN held an international symposium on China as a Development Aid Actor: Rethinking Development Assistance and Its Implications for Africa and the West on 14 March 2012. For a summary of the debates and key issues raised by speakers and participants, click here. For podcasts of the debates and some of the power point presentations of the conference speakers, click here.