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Wang Yi on traditional New Year’s visit to Africa
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was on his annual New Year’s trip to Africa from last Sunday to Thursday. This year he visited Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Chad and Nigeria, continuing the 35-year-old tradition of the Chinese Foreign Minister making their first trip of the year to the African continent. According to experts, Wang’s trip is intended to emphasise China’s position as a constant partner of African countries, which continues to regard them as a priority, especially in these times when the attention of European countries is absorbed by their own domestic political developments and, in terms of foreign policy, by the imminent inauguration of US President Donald Trump and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
A central focus of the trip is the implementation of the results of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, which took place in Beijing in September 2024 (press review CW 36/2024: Cooperation and competition), as well as the FOCAC action plan for 2025-2027. Furthermore, it is also important to deepen cooperation between China and its African partners in all other areas in order to promote the sustainable growth of Sino-African relations, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
The first destination of the four-country trip was Namibia. Wang met the incumbent President Nangolo Mbumba and the President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in the capital Windhoek. This makes Wang the first foreign minister Nandi-Ndaitwah has met since her election. The talks focussed primarily on the ongoing development of the comprehensive strategic partnership that has existed since 2018 and the deepening of relations in the energy sector. Namibia is a major supplier of uranium to China and, with a production of 8,200 tonnes in 2024, is one of the world’s largest producers of the raw material alongside Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia.
On his second stop in Congo, Wang met President Denis Sassou-Nguesso in Brazzaville and held further talks with Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso and his counterpart Jean-Claude Gakuesso. An important part of this meeting was the appointment of the country as co-chair of the next FOCAC summit, which will take place in the Republic of Congo in 2027. The Congolese authorities are also endeavouring to strengthen economic relations with China and to win back the country as a major buyer of oil and gas. China has already invested in numerous major projects in the country in the past, including the construction of the new parliament building and a USD 9 billion hydropower plant in the south-west of the country.
Chad was chosen as the third destination on Wang’s trip to Africa, as the country plays a central role in regional security issues, particularly in the Sahel region. Here, Wang met President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and, according to observers, positioned China as a ‘reliable and stable partner for the new military juntas in the Sahel and West Africa’, especially in light of the beginning of the withdrawal of French troops last month. Furthermore, Chad and its neighbouring countries are seen as important players in securing global supply chains of technology-relevant minerals, the stability of which is also important for China. However, just hours after the Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit, there was a foiled attack on President Deby Itno’s office on Wednesday evening, in which at least 18 of 24 armed attackers and a member of the security forces were killed, highlighting the precarious political situation in the country.
The last stop on this year’s New Year’s trip took the Chinese delegation to Nigeria. President Bola Tinubu welcomed Foreign Minister Wang in the capital Abuja on Thursday. Nigeria is the largest market for Chinese exports and technology investments. In 2023, the trade volume between China and Nigeria amounted to 22.6 billion US dollars. At a joint press conference with Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar, the importance of bilateral relations was emphasised and the desire to further deepen cooperation in areas such as economic development and technological innovation was expressed.
Furthermore, China is willing to coordinate the Belt and Road Initiative and the action plans of the FOCAC summit with the priority areas of Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Agenda, in particular to implement infrastructure measures as well as expand trade and investment.
Wang Yi took office as Chinese Foreign Minister in 2013. This is his 10th annual trip to Africa.
São Tomé and Príncipe’s president dismisses prime minister and government
In a statement released on Monday, the President of São Tomé, Carlos Vila Nova, unexpectedly dismissed the Prime Minister Patrice Emery Trovoada and his government. Nova called on the ruling party Acção Democrática Independente (ADI), of which he is also a member, to propose a new person for the position within 72 hours. The president claims that, under the leadership of party colleague Trovoada, the government is incapable of offering solutions for the various economic and social challenges facing the country. The president justified his decision in more detail by stating that the prime minister had caused unnecessary costs for the state through frequent, long trips abroad. Furthermore, Trovoada was not sufficiently loyal in his governance and did not cooperate sufficiently with the president. For this reason, effective governance is no longer possible. In an initial press conference, Trovoada criticized the president’s decision as politically motivated and questioned the constitutional basis of the president’s actions. Accordingly, he would ask the national constitutional court for clarification. He emphasized that trips abroad are necessary to obtain the necessary support from international partners, particularly for the financing of development projects. Likewise, the decline in inflation and improvements in health care are proof of his government’s successes.
The first tensions between Trovoada and Nova became public late last year when the government passed a resolution to increase airport taxes despite a political veto by the president. Trovoada and Nova had long been considered old allies. Before Nova was elected president of the island nation in the Gulf of Guinea in 2021, he had held various ministerial posts under Trovoada, who had already served as the country’s prime minister three times between 2008 and 2018. At the end of 2022, Trovoada was re-elected prime minister after the ADI won the parliamentary elections. While Trovoada went to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, which will issue a ruling within 15 days, his party nominated former central bank governor Hélio Almeida for the position of prime minister. However, Nova rejected this nomination on the grounds that the 49-year-old did not meet his criteria. Yesterday, Thursday, the former Minister of Justice, Ilza Amado Vaz, was nominated and confirmed by President Nova as the new Prime Minister.
The country, with a population of 230,000, has regularly held free elections since the introduction of the multi-party system in 1991, which have already brought about several peaceful changes of power. The country also fares well in terms of freedom of expression, with the NGO Freedom House giving it an Global Freedom Score of 84 out of 100. The loss of its status as a Least Developed Country (LDC) in mid-December last year suggests that the country is making economic progress in the fight against poverty. Nevertheless, the lusophone island state has also seen several coup attempts in the past, all of which were thwarted. The last one was suppressed in 2022 just days after Trovada’s election, although some non-governmental organizations questioned the government’s account of events and thus the existence of an attempted coup. In view of current developments, some observers are concerned about the country’s political stability. While some voices are calling for new elections, others fear that these could worsen the crisis. It therefore remains to be seen to what extent the new prime minister will remain in office until the regular elections in 2026.
In other news
As every year, renowned media such as the New York Times, National Geographic, Tripadvisor and others publish their recommendations for the best travel destinations in the coming year – and the African continent is once again represented. However, on Tripadvisor’s global top 10 list, which is based on reviews from international travellers, only one African city is ranked seventh among the major metropolises such as London, Paris and Rome: Marrakesh. However, the Moroccan city also scored highly in the Food Destinations and Culture Destinations categories, where it took third and fourth place. One category was won by an African country: The island nation of Mauritius came in first place for couples looking for the perfect destination for their honeymoon in 2025. The Tanzanian island of Zanzibar is also recommended as one of the ten most romantic destinations in the world, ahead of Florence. Meanwhile, the New York Times published its ‘52 best travel destinations of the year’ on Tuesday, including three African locations: Angola came out on top in 12th place, ranking one place ahead of Hamburg, the only German place on the list. Benin City in Nigeria, which is ranked ahead of the tourist magnet Amsterdam, and Kilifi in Kenya are the other two destinations. Overall, African destinations remain underrepresented in the global rankings, although there are many more fascinating destinations beyond these lists on the continent that are always worth a visit.