In a massive windfall for its domestic semiconductor industry, China has unveiled plans to build a giant particle accelerator to assist in the production of semiconductors. Recent reports suggest the world’s second largest economy is preparing to build a 150-metre facility that will use electron beams to produce the important chips – essential for everything…
South Africa is close to securing a deal that would see it receive 66-gigawatts worth of solar panel components from trade partner China. The deal is expected to be finalised at the 15th annual BRICS summit, when representatives from Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa meet in Johannesburg, said electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. The…
South African authorities have announced construction on the Mtentu Bridge has begun. The R4.05 billion cantilever bridge will span the Mtentu River in the Eastern Cape’s Winnie Madikizela-Mandela municipality and, with an estimated height of 223 metres, will be the tallest on the African continent. Conceived by Danish architecture house, Dissing and Weitling, the Mtentu…
Kenyan authorities have reached out to Chinese businesses in a bid to improve their industrial production capacity by establishing manufacturing hubs and special economic zones (SEZ) nationwide. The developing nation is looking to attract investors from several sectors, including textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, lifts and elevators, and medical equipment. The initiative forms part of the East…
A Chinese consortium will construct a $650 million toll road in the Zambian Copperbelt province, after several years of delay amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The proposed 327-kilometre-long roadway joins the Zambian capital, Lusaka, with the country’s third most populous city, Ndola. Once complete, the dual carriageway toll road will form a reliable trade route between…
Trade between Tanzania and its largest import-export partner, China, skyrocketed by nearly 25 per cent in 2022, as the two parties continue to reinforce diplomatic ties after 60 years of cooperation. Trade figures reached $8.32 billion in 2022, said Tanzanian ambassador to Beijing, Mbelwa Kairuki in February, addressing an audience in Hong Kong while promoting…
As the world’s automotive players continue to ramp up electric vehicle (EV) production, Africa is ideally placed to take profit from it. EV manufacturers are scrambling to access rich deposits of lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum, all essential to the development of zero-emission cars. China, the world’s top EV manufacturer, remains relatively unchallenged in…
Chinese imports of South African agricultural products are proving increasingly valuable, as local and global economies continue to stutter. Citrus and apples grown in the country’s favourable conditions are also growing in demand amongst Asian customers. South African exporters have worked diligently to open new international destinations for produce since 1994. The country has steadily…
Chinese officials have announced a massive infrastructure project that will reroute water from the Three Gorges Dam to Beijing, in an effort to boost food production in the country’s drier regions by as much as 540 million tons. Freshwater resources are concentrated predominantly in the country’s south and east. China’s two great rivers, the Yangtze,…
Cape Town-based mobility firm, GoMetro, has assembled a group of companies and research agencies to test electric minibus taxis in the Western Cape town of Stellenbosch. The news comes as surging fuel prices and emissions targets are forcing many of the world’s governments to move away from fossil fuels and internal combustion engines (ICEs) in…