While South Africa is making steady progress in its efforts to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, it will require “a significant effort” from all relevant authorities in the country to meet the deadline at the end of January 2025 to address remaining shortcomings identified by FATF, according to the National Treasury. South Africa’s grey listing woes started in 2019, when the global financial crime watchdog FATF red-flagged the country for high levels of corruption. This…

From 13 to 18 January, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited four African countries in keeping with the more than three decades of tradition where Chinese foreign ministers start their yearly overseas visits with a trip to Africa. However, while these visits have become a routine for China’s diplomatic practice, they are not an empty ritual. They represent a tradition of China-Africa pragmatic cooperation defined by mutual consultations and tangible outcomes. It is neither opportunistic nor paternalistic, but rather engagement…

Russia took the rotating presidency of the BRICS group in 2024. Yury Ushakov, Russian presidential foreign policy aide, has granted TASS an interview in which he previewed Moscow’s priorities, prospects for BRICS development and expansion, and commented on the West’s attempts to impede the association’s activities. Question: While speaking about the priorities of Russia’s BRICS Presidency, Vladimir Putin mentioned the development of economic partnership, cooperation in science and innovation, security and counter-terrorism, culture and sports. How do you prioritize these…

The annual sessions of China’s National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, commonly known as Two Sessions, held in March in Beijing, not only provided details about China’s development in the past year, but also outlined the development trajectory for the future.    Under normal circumstances, one country’s economic recovery shouldn’t be of great significance to countries in another continent. But that is not the case with China. The ongoing recovery of the world’s…

Some people, mainly in the West, were taken by surprise when six Chinese warships were seen near the Red Sea in October 2023 amid the conflict in Gaza. Some Western media and politicians tried to frame China’s mission as an escalatory move in the Middle East. However, according to Chinese media, the ships are part of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s escort taskforce responsible for safeguarding commercial vessels and fighting piracy.  As the conflict between Israel and Hamas is…

China’s Two Sessions that take place in early March provide an opportunity for the world to look into the country’s unique democracy – the whole-process people’s democracy. It is a concept that is misunderstood and wrongly criticised by most Western politicians as it differs from the Western notion of democracy.   As Zhang Weiwei, dean of the China Institute of Fudan University in Shanghai, said, China’s political system does not claim to be universal. Unlike Western democracy, it does not seek…

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the China Africa Industrial Forum (CAIF). An outcome of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the mechanism has facilitated China-Africa exchanges and engagement in diverse fields. In the past 15 years, CAIF has helped hundreds of Chinese enterprises to invest in Africa, which has speeded up the continent’s industrialisation in terms of manufacturing, technological training and managerial expertise. ChinAfrica spoke to CAIF Secretary General Cheng Zhigang to learn more about how CAIF facilitates China-Africa…

The dawn of 2024 marked a significant milestone in the geopolitical landscape as Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officially joined the BRICS grouping. This expansion, the second phase of the growth for the grouping since South Africa’s inclusion in 2011, signals a pivotal moment for the developing world.  As the current chair of the grouping, the Russian Federation is set to host the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, the capital city of the Republic…

Believe it or not, the African continent usually picks its political strength from South Africa’s leadership. When South Africa is weak, it replicates across the Continent. Who will lead in this direction? Is South Africa failing as a pioneer strong state? In the Federalist Paper no 51, one of America’s founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, wrote: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, no checks and balances on government would be necessary. In framing…

As African countries look to enhance their manufacturing industries and speed up industrialisation, they are learning valuable insights from the development experience of industrial parks worldwide, particularly from China.  Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, China has substantially increased its investment in infrastructure development in Africa, undertaking the construction of a large number of projects including roads, railways, hydropower plants, airports, ports, and industrial parks. Specifically, industrial parks have emerged as key engines driving Africa’s…