China’s Foreign Ministry Refutes Kenya Loan Rumors

File image of Wu Peng, Director-General of the Department of African Affairs in the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Image via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Wu Peng, the top diplomat for Africa in China’s Foreign Ministry, denied that Kenya missed a payment on its Standard Gauge Railway loan. Wu Peng is the Director-General of African Affairs in the Foreign Ministry. His comment was a rare intervention from the Ministry in a loan controversy.

“Recently in Kenya, they said that China has slapped some fines for defaulting on Chinese SGR loan. It is not true,” Wu told African journalists in Beijing. He referred to a recent article in the Kenyan newspaper Business Daily purporting to show a document proving that the Exim Bank of China hit Kenya with a $10.8 million fine for a payment delay.

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by Cobus van Staden

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