Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said India was Rwanda's strong development partner. "We in India see ourselves as a strong development partner to Rwanda. We are already cooperating in sectors such as solar electrification, food processing, skill development and hydropower projects," Vice President Hamid Ansari said in an address at the University of Rwanda here. "India's engagement with Africa has its own unique script, based on what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called 'strong emotional link' defined by our shared history of struggle against colonialism and our aspiration to bring prosperity to our people," Ansari said.

More business is expected at the Port of Mombasa after Singapore’s Pacific International Lines and China’s Guangzhou Yansha Development Zone partnered to increase their investments. PIL, the fourteenth largest container liner company in the world, and Guangzhou have agreed to build more rail and road connections in East and Southern Africa. The two companies signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Mombasa last week, sealing a deal to cover Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Zambia and Malawi. The trade pact was signed by Guangzhou’s Zhang Benhua and Yong Wang, PIL East Africa representative Nandar Warrier, and Kenya Shipping Agency Association CEO Juma Tellah.

Russia has announced its desire to strengthen its agricultural trading relationship with Nigeria. Mr Nikolay Udovichenko, the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria said that the Russian government would export finished agricultral products and machinery to help boost the sector in Nigeria. According to him, the production of agricultural machinery is even higher than that of arms. “The Russian government is delighted and ready to export Nigerian agricultural products, especially, mangoes, pineapples, banana, pawpaw and cocoa beans."

According to South African table grape producers and exporters, one of the biggest breakthroughs since deregulation in agriculture has just been confirmed by the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). The producer organisation SATI is delighted that China changed the cold treatment protocol of South African table grapes to a more fruit friendly protocol. This creates a market opportunity to increase table grape exports from South Africa to China to about R2,5 billion over the next five years. DAFF has just confirmed that China’s cold treatment protocol is immediately effective from the 2016/2017 season.

China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Association (CIQA) and Fruit South Africa (FruitSA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to broaden co-operative mechanisms for fruit trade. The MoU will allow South Africa and China to exchange information on quarantine and inspection, regulatory matters, market access, market development, technologies and other related issues, according to All Africa (South Africa). With China currently a major importer of South Africa’s citrus fruits to Asia, the MoU will also cover.

The President of Equatorial Guinea, H.E. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo recently announced the country’s commitment to host an ACP information centre for South-South Cooperation in its capital city Malabo, which would foster cooperation amongst the 79 member countries of the ACP Group of States, as well as ACP collaboration with other partners of the Global South. “It is with honour and enthusiasm that the Republic of Equatorial Guinea host the ACP headquarters for South-South cooperation, an undertaking it regards with the greatest respect and strongest intentions.

China has pledged a donation of equipment worth $US82,000 to support marine surveillance in the Cook Islands. Cook Island News reported a delegation from the Cook Islands was in China last week to discuss cooperation between the Guangzhou and Zhuhai government on agriculture, fisheries, culture, tourism and health. The donation will include equipment and transportation facilities. An agriculture and fishery training project was also agreed upon and will start next month. The secretary of cultural development Anthony Turua said ten representatives from the Ministry of Marine resources and the Ministry of Agriculture would visit Zhuhai in mid-October as part of the first training project.

Fiji plans to boost its cooperation with China by promoting Fijian agricultural products including fisheries and tropical agriculture products, the Pacific island country's Minister for Agriculture Inia Seruiratu said Monday. The developments followed the Fiji-China 4th Joint Working Committee meeting held in Suva on Monday, where the two countries discussed areas of trade and cooperation, including training for rice, ginger and mushroom farming and capacity building for Fijian agricultural officials. Zhang Taolin, China's vice minister of agriculture, said China is willing to provide training and assistance in the areas of livestock, value addition and food technology.

With India-Africa trade turnover standing at $70 billion, India is now looking for inward investments from Africa, a senior official said on Tuesday. “Total trade turnover between India and Africa is $70 billion,” Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a curtainraiser here of the “I for Afrika” business networking event. “We are not only looking at investing in Africa, we are also looking at African investments in India,” Sinha said. Organised by the Indo-African Chamber of Commerce (IACCI), the eighth edition of “I for Afrika” is also supported by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce and will be held in Mumbai from September 27 to 30.

Japan is expected to use the sixth Tokyo International Conference of Africa's Development slated for Nairobi, Kenya this week to boost trade relations between the nation and the continent at a time when it is trailing behind its Asian peers. According to data released Monday by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), while Japan's monthly exports to Kenya average 67.4 million U.S. dollars, India ships into the East African nation goods worth 193 million dollars and China's exports stand at 233 million dollars.