How Does China’s Lending to Africa Compare to That of Other Emerging Market Countries?

Source: World Bank

London-based emerging markets strategist Gregory Smith posted an interesting thread on Twitter today that compared China’s lending patterns in Africa to those of other emerging markets, particularly from the Persian Gulf region.

Using World Bank charts, he showed that Chinese lending differed from that of the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in two key areas: 1) most Gulf loans are done using commercial interest rates and 2) the Gulf states appear to have a preference for lending to other Muslim countries.

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by Eric Olander

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