China and the Burgeoning African Debt Crisis

Zambia's President Edgar Lungu (L) shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping before their bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People on September 1, 2018. Nicolas ASFOURI / POOL / AFP

Over the last week we’ve reached two critical milestones that put the worsening African debt crisis into sharp focus:

First, the good news. Angola appears to have reached an agreement with some of its major creditors at the International Monetary Fund and in China to reschedule billions of dollars of loans. Although we still don’t know the full details of these arrangements, there is a palpable sense of relief among key stakeholders that one of Africa’s most indebted nations has been pulled back from the brink.

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by Eric Olander

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