Italy has announced its formal withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative after joining the China-centered infrastructure and investment project in 2019.
The timing of the announcement that Rome won’t renew its BRI commitment is notable. It came only a day before the EU-China summit, which kicks off on Thursday. The summit will likely be more contentious than usual, with European leaders expected to push China on the treatment of EU firms amid discussions ...
Day: November 23, 2020
G20 Wraps Up Summit With Lots of Promises But Very Little Concrete Action on Debt Relief
Debt relief for the world's poorest countries was high on the agenda at this weekend's Group of 20 summit organized by Saudi Arabia. The conference ended on Sunday with what's become standard promises to expand its Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and calls ...
China Claims It’s Done More to Relieve Developing World Debt Than Any Other G20 Member
Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun provided a robust defense of Beijing's participation in the G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative and said his government is doing more than any other in the group in providing billions of dollars of debt relief to the world's poorest countries.
China and the G20’s New “Common Framework” For Debt Relief
One of the highlights from the latest G20 summit was the group's endorsement of a so-called "common framework" that would create a set of standards for countries not eligible for the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). Officials at the U.S. Treasury who championed the idea said the ...
Dissecting the Zambian Debt Crisis and What Role China, Private Creditors Played
One week after Zambia failed to meet a deadline to repay $42.5 million on some of its Eurobond debt, African and international media are examining what went wrong and who precisely is to blame. In an appearance ...
Analyst: When the Chinese Lend Africa Money, It’s a Debt Trap But Not Apparently When Private Creditors Do
Lagos-based policy analyst Ovigwe Eguegu noted a discrepancy in how Chinese debt issuances to Africa are covered by the international media, compared to when those debts are owed to largely U.S/Europe-based private creditors. Eguegu regularly comments on ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
The Case For Kenya’s Embattled Chinese-Financed Standard Gauge Railway
Critics of Kenya's multi-billion-dollar Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) definitely have the upper hand these days as the railway sinks deeper into debt. But George Sunguh, managing editor of African Ports Review, argued today in Business Daily that the skeptics are wrong.
It’s Official, Chen Xiaodong is Now China’s Ambassador to South Africa
Chen Xiaodong officially became China's ambassador to South Africa on Sunday, when he presented his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria. Newly-named envoys from Finland, Botswana, Ukraine, Pakistan, Sudan, and Sweden also presented their credentials yesterday.
Let’s Stop Pretending the G20 Actually Matters Anymore
The Group of 20 wrapped up yet another high-profile summit on Sunday that will once again disappoint anyone looking to the world's wealthiest countries for leadership in resolving the developing world's burgeoning debt crisis. The final communiqué basically repeated the same, ...
Africa’s Mosaic Approach
Afrobarometer is the gift that keeps on giving. Every few years the survey company tracks public opinion in African countries about external partners. The result is a growing and fascinating body of work that shows African public opinion about actors like China shifting in real-time. This time,