Hichilema May Find Out Getting Elected Was the Easy Part, Fixing Zambia’s Debt-Ridden Economy Will Be a Lot Harder

A peaceful transfer of power took place in Lusaka on Tuesday when opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema (photo) became Zambia's seventh president in the post-colonial era. President Hichilema made clear right from the start that the economy, specifically reducing the country's heavy debt load, will be ...

With Smaller, Targeted Loans, China Deploys New Development Finance Strategy in Africa

The huge state-owned power construction company China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) signed a small $31.22 million contract last week to upgrade a pair of substations outside of the Ghanaian capital Accra. For a company as large as CTG a deal like this is financially insignificant, but it ...

Markets Optimistic Hichilema Will Resolve Zambia’s Debt Crisis

Global financial markets are telegraphing their relief that Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema decisively won last week's presidential vote and that he'll now have the necessary mandate to bring an end to the country's worsening debt crisis. Both Zambia's kwacha and ...

Why Is the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Lending Money to Rwanda?

It came as a bit of a surprise to some that the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved its first project in sub-Saharan African country a few weeks ago with a $100 million loan to Rwanda as part of the bank's COVID-19 Crisis Recovery ...

No Reprieve for Kenya’s Loan Bid as Chinese Banks Resist Move

Kenya is moving forward with repaying Chinese creditors after the Treasury failed to secure an extension of a 6-month debt repayment holiday that expired in June. The Treasury said on Monday that it will meet all of its Chinese debt obligations, particularly to the China Exim Bank ...

Why Chinese Coal Financing Along the BRI Will End With Whimper Not a Bang

There's been growing excitement among environmentalists around the world that China may finally be ready to abandon its once expansive overseas financing of coal power plants, particularly in Belt and Road member countries. Last week, the Green BRI Center published ...

Stop the Blame Game: The Complex Picture of China and Coal Finance

By Hugo Jones and Lukas Fiala Apocalyptic images reach us from China this week. The immense flooding in Henan province has come with tragic human cost, a typhoon has edged onto China’s eastern coast, and Shanghai is facing torrential rains and winds. These events have already stirred discussions ...

A Lot of People Mistakenly Think China’s The Major Funder of Coal Plants Around the World. New BU Report Says That’s Not the Case.

China is indeed the largest government funder of coal power projects around the world, accounting for 50% of coal projects that reached financial closure between 2013 and 2018, according to a new policy brief from Boston University's Global Development Policy Center.

G20 Reps Close Another Meeting Without Any Firm Commitments on Vaccines or Debt Relief For World’s Poorest Countries

In what's becoming a predictable routine, high-level representatives from the world's wealthiest countries get together, express anguish over the rapid spread of COVID-19 in developing countries, issue a call for more equitable distribution of vaccines and then restate longstanding positions that bilateral creditors (read China) and bondholders ...

China Pushes Back Against U.S. Criticism That It’s Not Doing Enough to Support the G20’s Debt Relief Initiative

The Chinese government is becoming increasingly impatient with the persistent U.S. criticism that it isn't doing enough to support the G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). U.S. officials have steadily increased their critiques in July in the run-up to the G20 finance ministers meeting in Italy that ...

Xi Reportedly Agrees to Reschedule Republic of Congo’s Chinese Debts

Chinese President Xi Jinping has reportedly agreed in principle to reschedule the Republic of Congo's debts to Beijing in a move that will presumably pave the way for a half-a-billion dollar IMF rescue package to take effect. President Xi made the ...

An Update on Chinese Lending in Africa (It’s Not Good News)

This week's launch of the new Lagos to Ibadan Standard Gauge Railway may be the last time for a long while that a big multibillion dollars infrastructure project like this is built in Africa using Chinese loans. Chinese development ...
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