IN THE ANALYSIS
Africa Watch – Is China retreating?
Chinese sovereign lending to Africa fell below $1 billion last year—the lowest level in nearly two decades, data showed on Tuesday, 19 September. The drop in lending is reflected in data from Boston University’s Global China Initiative. Africa has been a focus of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched in 2013 to recreate the ancient Silk Road and extend China’s geopolitical and economic influence through a global infrastructure development push. Boston University’s Chinese Loans to Africa Database estimates that Chinese lenders provided $170 billion to Africa from 2000 to 2022. But lending has declined sharply since a 2016 peak. China's internal politics have led to a reassessment of the Belt and Road Initiative investments, with higher benchmarks set for loan approval. African countries have struggled to meet these new requirements. Many African governments have been unable to muster the discipline required to develop and pursue projects that are viable. Instead, political considerations and grandiose pretensions remain a prime driver of project developments. As the global geopolitical climate continues to churn under the weight of significant realignments, Africa is again failing to position itself to be a net positive gainer. Furthermore, many analysts fail to see the ...
ANALYSIS
Africa Watch – Paris stares at the backbench
French President, Emmanuel Macron, reiterated that Paris has no intention ...
The week ahead – A little while longer
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the governorship ...
Chart of the week: The cost of a postponed election
INEC just postponed the governorship elections in by a week ...
Election postponements cost Nigeria dearly
Despite insisting that it would not shift any aspect of ...
Africa Watch – Between East and West
Russia's deputy foreign minister said that the United States is ...
The week ahead – The morning after
After Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential ...
Nigeria's federal system of government requires the concurrent functioning of ...
On Saturday, 25 February 2023, Nigerians flocked to the polls ...
Nigeria’s presidential election; A first post-mortem
Nigeria had a dramatic buildup to the presidential election, but ...
#NigeriaDecides 2023: Second snapshot
By 1500 hours, we have documented incidents of violence in ...
#NigeriaDecides 2023: First snapshot
SBM deployed 185 researchers across all 37 states and Abuja ...
Wazobia Max #NigeriaDecides2023 coverage
SBM Intelligence has teamed up with Nigeria Info (radio) and ...
The SBM election series: Nigeria goes to vote
Since 2022, SBM Intelligence has carried out an election series ...
The PDP’s vice grip on Akwa Ibom politics
In January, Ibom Power, a government-owned company, received an Independent ...
The High Court, Nnamani and a tight Senate race
Judicial decisions are influential in validating and invalidating political aspirants, ...
2023 election security brief, 21 February
With less than seven days to the highly anticipated 2023 ...
