Bad Journalism and a Poor Understanding of International Contractual Law Triggers Uproar in Uganda Over Chinese Loans

Officials from both the Chinese and Ugandan governments took to Twitter over the weekend to furiously denounce a report published late last week in the Daily Monitor newspaper, which erroneously claimed that China will seize the Entebbe International Airport as a result of defaulting on its debt to the China Exim Bank.

A spokesman for the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), Vianney M. Luggya, emphasized that the government is still well within the 7-year grace period to repay the $207 million loan that was issued in 2015 and “has not defaulted on those obligations.” 

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by Eric Olander

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