Is China’s Lending Particularly “Aggressive”?

Amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and the bleakest prognosis on climate change yet, you may have missed the ongoing saga of Uganda’s Entebbe Airport.

A quick recap: Uganda loaned $325 million from China Exim Bank to upgrade the airport. The first phase of the upgrade came to $200 million, and the work was done by China Construction Communication Company (CCCC.) The seven-year grace period before repayment comes to an end in 2022. In December of 2021, Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper published a story claiming that the airport was in danger of being seized due to a loan default.

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by Cobus van Staden

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