New Research Concludes Uganda’s Entebbe Airport Was Never at Risk of Being Seized by Chinese Creditors

Cover page of the China Exim Bank loan contract for the Entebbe International Airport expansion project.

Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport was never at risk of being seized by Chinese creditors in the event of a default on the $200 million loan, according to new research by Brad Parks and Ammar Malik at AidData in the United States.

Parks and Malik reached that conclusion after reviewing a copy of the full, unredacted version of the contract with the China Exim Bank that until now had been secret. “Our analysis of the terms and conditions in the contract does not support the allegation that China engages in predatory lending,” they said. “We instead find that Beijing is a shrewd negotiator who is willing to impose intrusive conditions upon sovereign borrowers to protect its balance sheet.”

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by Eric Olander

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