Gallous Atabongwoung

Contemporary South Africa reflects complex, diverse, and evolving religious realities. Changes continue to manifest at the confluence of encounters between various religions and rapid changes in social institutions that affect, in one way or another, various religions in the nation. These realities are typically embedded in sociocultural contexts and give clarity and meaning to religious experiences. In the post-apartheid era, the spirit of openness toward religious tolerance often dwindles when it comes to interactions between African religion and Pentecostalism. When people understand why followers of other religions believe and practice their rituals and sacraments, this knowledge may help dispel mis- and disinformation and thereby construct inter-religious common ground. Using an extensive review of the relevant literature, this article investigates some of the factors that may limit harmony between African religion and Pentecostalism in South Africa. After providing some defini...

China has recently emerged as a major lender in more than 32 African countries including Angola ($21.5 billion in 2017), Ethiopia ($13.7 billion), Kenya ($9.8 billion), Republic of Congo ($7.42 billion), Cameroon ($5.57 billion) and Zambia reaching $11.2 billion in 2019. Some scholars argue that Chinese loans have created debt trap in Africa, and China is leveraging on debt trap to strategically penetrate Africa’s political landscape. Other scholars contend the debt trap narrative creates nuance regarding the decision-making power of African governments. Notwithstanding, debt Africa owes China is persistently on the rise with an annual infrastructure financing deficit of more than $93 billion. According to SAIS-CARI researchers, Chinese financiers have so far committed more than $153 billion to African public sector borrowers between 2000 and 2019. This is likely going to continue to drive debt in the continent. Research historically have shown that soaring debt has the ability to compromise the sovereignty of African states, owing to the complexity of corruption and frequent political instability in the continent. This article therefore seeks to interrogate the impact of Chinese loans to Africa through a review of secondary data. The article provides a different lens (negative impact) of Chinese loans in Africa in the 21st century.
Key words: China, Africa, loans, debt trap, lender, infrastructure, sovereignty

India under the "thought leadership" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2014-hitherto), has experienced a paradigm shift full of success stories. Not only has the government of India progressively drifted towards a pragmatic people-centric inclusive governance during these past years. There are evidences of remarkable structural transformations across every sector of the Indian society and economy. That Africa and the international community can leverage on as a result of the "firebrand" thought pattern of Prime Minister Modi. India without doubt has risen to a position of prominence as one of the strongest and most resilient democracies in the current global village. The latter is envisaged through the lens of India's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Whereas, despite the human uneasiness of war, the thought leadership of New Delhi adopted a well-studied and caution public neutrality towards Russia. This was echoed by India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who walks on the footsteps of Narendra Modi. Consequently, India abstained from successive votes in the UN Security Council, General Assembly, and Human Rights Council that condemned Russia over the war in Ukraine. India is also embarking on the path to become a "superpower" in the 21 st century. So that its voice can be heard, respected, and considered within the international community on the premise of equality and shared humanity. This "opinion piece" argues that, India under Modi is the best alternative for a prosperous Africa. This is because there are no signs that India would build football stadiums in African in exchange of exorbitant contracts to exploit mineral resources. Talk less of building military base or oversea police stations in African countries.