Category: Finance
Forget About Everything Else, Hichilema’s in China to Resolve Zambia’s Still Unfinished Debt Restructuring Deal
Zambian President Haikinde Hichilema is spending much of this week visiting Chinese business hubs in Shenzhen and Shanghai, but the real focus of this trip will be dealt with later in Beijing, where he will tackle the sensitive issue of debt. ...
Zambian President Arrives in China for Crucial Debt Talks
Zambian President Haikinde Hichilema landed in the southern Chinese megacity of Shenzhen on Sunday to kick off a six-day visit to China that will include highly-anticipated talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to finalize the details of a debt restructuring deal signed last June.
Indonesian Raid Highlights the Criminal Economy of Chinese Online Scams in Southeast Asia
Indonesian police arrested 88 Chinese citizens on suspicion of being involved in cross-border internet scams following a tip-off from Chinese authorities. They are accused of running so-called romance scams, where they establish long-term online relationships with netizens in China in order ...
No New Members Will be Added to the BRICS Bank, Says CFO
While the BRICS group itself will become larger at the conclusion of the ongoing leaders summit underway in Johannesburg, that is not the case for the bloc's bank known as the New Development Bank. "There will be no announcements this week,"
New Development Bank Moves Forward With Local Currency Bonds in Bid to Reduce Dependence on the U.S. Dollar
The Shanghai-based New Development Bank, aka the BRICS Bank, said it is proceeding with plans to issue bonds and lend more money in local currencies as part of a larger effort to reduce reliance on the dollar. “We expect to lend ...
China’s New, Slimmed-Down Belt & Road Initiative
China's critics contend the Belt and Road Initiative is dead or dying due to a mix of gross mismanagement and hubris. The data, however, reveals a very different story. While lending has definitely decreased considerably from its peak in 2016, the ...
Nigerians’ (Misplaced) Anxiety About Chinese Debt
For years, Nigerian politicians and media reports have issued breathless warnings about the dangers of becoming too indebted to China, fearing the dreaded "debt trap" and the risk of surrendering the country's strategic assets. While ...
Is China Setting the Agenda for Global South Debt Restructuring?
In June, Zambia reached what's been described as a landmark debt restructuring deal that for the first time brought together the country's bilateral creditors including China, traditional Paris Club lenders and bondholders. While the deal ...
Sri Lanka’s Creditors Push for Greater Chinese Participation in Debt Talks
Three of Sri Lanka’s largest lenders are calling for its debt restructuring process to be sped up and for China to support the process. Officials from India, Japan, and France, the three heads of Sri Lanka’s creditor committee, are also raising new forms of cooperation in a bid ...
Heard About Those Escrow Accounts Used to Secure Chinese Loans in Africa? Here’s What They Look Like in Action
There's been a lot of discussion in recent years about how Chinese lenders required high-risk borrowers in Africa and other developing countries to put large pools of money in offshore escrow accounts as a kind of insurance measure that guaranteed the creditor would be repaid. ...