Chinese surgeon training Ghanaian medical staff in Kumasi, Ghana, 13 July 2016 [Xinhua/Lin Xiaowei]
Geopolitics
China and UN Security Council endorse African Union’s mediation of US $4.6 billion Ethiopian dam dispute with Sudan and Egypt
Part-Chinese funded (US $1.2 billion), the Blue Nile hydroelectric dam will produce power (6,000 MW) for Ethiopian industrialization, but Egypt and Sudan – where China also has significant investments – raise concerns about low water levels downstream
Health
Chinese pharmaceuticals will supply 550 million COVID-19 vaccines to COVAX by mid-2022, while African manufacturers (Egypt and Morocco) start production
110 million Sinopharm and Sinovac doses will be immediately available; five African countries are involved in vaccine production and will meet <1% of the needed doses for the continent, where only 2% of the population is fully vaccinated
People’s Life and Culture
China-Ghana cardiology cooperation (US $3.1 million) includes training of 23 medical professionals (2015-19) and the first minimally-invasive heart surgery
Chinese specialists in Ghana have performed free surgeries and disease screenings, provided cutting-edge training locally and in China, and conducted research on disease prevalence rates, while also helping found the Ghana Cardiology Society (2018)
Africa celebrates Communist Party of China’s centenary, having fought alongside one another in the quest for liberation from Western colonialism