Results tagged “africa”

"Ethnic Blossom," a Habesha fashion show featuring designs by Sheilla Constance Sidney, took place at the Xiang Yang Elite Villa on Jianguo West Road Friday night. Sidney was born in Guyana, grew up in Paris, and named her fashion collection "Habesha" after an Ethiopian word meaning "to mix." Sidney's clothing line fuses traditional African and Chinese styles and patterns. Habesha will also be online (nothing there now, the website is still under construction).

Angola is the fastest growing economy in Africa. It's GDP expanded 19.9% in 2006, 15% in 2007, and is likely to grow 16.30% this year. And China is playing a huge role in facilitating all that growth, improving Angolan infrastructure, building roads, railways, buildings and hospitals. This new report from Current TV offers a look at China's influence and impact in the ex-Portuguese colony today. It's 24 minutes long and well worth every minute of your time.

From Al-Jazeera:

General Laurent Nkunda, rebel leader of the National Congress for People's Defence (CNDP), has said he wants to re-examine a $5bn dollar deal the Congolese government has struck with China.

Continue reading "Congo to re-examine its US$5bn dollar deal with China?"

A museum designed to help Chinese people learn about all things African has opened up in Shanghai, says Xinhua:

The Museum for An Experience of African Lifestyle, which is now in open to the public, is Located on Xianggang Road near the Bund.

Continue reading "Africa in Shanghai"

From Al-Jazeera:

China's staunch support of Sudan's government has led some to question Beijing's involvement in the UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur.

Continue reading "China sends troops to Darfur, Sudan"

Last Wednesday's episode of The Riz Khan Show on Al Jazeera English dealt with Chinese industries in Africa. Khan hosted a debate among three experts on the subject: Richard Behar, an investigative journalist and author of an article this month in Fast Company titled "China Storms Africa;" John Afele, former director of the International Program for Africa at the University of Guelph; and David Shinn, former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia. The question on the table:

Is China exploiting African nations and reflecting colonialism, or is it offering them real economic growth and opportunity?

According to Khan's guests and several callers, Chinese nationals are "enslaving" Nigerians, forging corrupt partnerships with African party leaders, using up the world's natural resources like there's no tomorrow, and possibly forming an "upgraded replay of colonialism" in Africa. On the flip side of things, one caller demands to know why China is being demonized when Western countries have been doing similar things in Africa for years, and Shinn points out that China is offering long-term low-interest loans to African nations without attaching the political conditions that Western nations stipulate. While the show is pretty one-sided (it's not really a debate without a representative from the other side) it offers a window into the psyche of Western nations who are clearly afraid that China will contaminate Africa. "They're not in Africa to spread democracy," Behar states in the beginning of the episode. Towards the end, he adds: "We must keep in mind that China is at a different level here and at this point in China's economic development it has a corrupt business culture that can't be denied."

As China rapidly climbs to world economic power, some enterprising individuals are emigrating here in the hopes of finding a new version of the American Dream. Blogging For China translates an article from the Southern Metropolis Daily on African traders who move to China (notably the city of Guangzhou, which currently holds an estimated 100,000 Africans) with the same burning desire of an earlier generation who emigrated to America: a better life. Many of them face strong prejudice against blacks in China and struggle to integrate themselves into their villages. The reporter follows one Liberian trader as he greets Chinese store-owners in his neighborhood:

He’ll loudly greet them, “Friend, how are you recently?” His “friends” don’t respond. Some pull out a cell phone and intentionally ignore him. Others impatiently wave at him, and say in a combination of Chinese and English: “If you’re not buying anything, then go… quickly GO!”

Continue reading "The Chinese Dream?"

Fashion designers in Shanghai are a jiao a dozen. What is rare is a designer with an innovative concept — not copied, borrowed or recycled from a different era.