Category: Loans

How China Really Secures Its Loans to Developing Countries

The "debt trap" meme claims that China is intentionally lending vast sums of money to poor developing countries in Africa, and elsewhere, with the express intent to seize physical assets in those countries when they inevitably can't repay their debts.

[DOUBLE EPISODE] 2024 China-Africa Year in Review

2024 will be remembered as a seminal year in China-Africa relations with a rebound of Chinese lending to the continent and renewed diplomatic engagement in the run-up to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit that took place in Beijing.

Chinese Lending to Africa is Way More Complicated Than You Think

It's widely believed that Chinese lending to African countries is predominantly done by a few state policy banks, such as the China Exim Bank and the China Development Bank. While that was true in the past, today the situation is far ...

Beyond Railways and Ports: China’s Evolving Lending Strategy in Africa

Chinese lending to African countries rebounded in a big way in 2023 after seven consecutive years of decline. Last year, Chinese lenders approved loans totaling $4.61 billion to African borrowers, a dramatic increase over the $922 million lent in 2022, according ...

Chinese Lending to Africa Plunges to 20-Year Low

Chinese lending to African countries plunged to below a billion dollars in 2022, the lowest level in two decades, according to new data from the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University. The findings confirm that the era of Beijing financing ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Confusing Developments in “Development”

This week I’m in Brussels, where I took part in a workshop on how the EU should shape its development strategy in response to China’s global influence.
I have joked in the past that it feels like I’ve attended this same ‘EU, Africa, and External Development Partners’ conference for ten years straight. 

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If You Lead a Developing Country and Want to Borrow Money From China, Then Listen to This Podcast

The days of China easily handing out billions of dollars to build infrastructure in developing countries around the world are now over. The Chinese can't afford it anymore and many of the borrowing countries just don't have the capacity to take ...

China’s Lending Money Again to Countries in the Americas

Chinese lending to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is gaining momentum. For the second year in a row, China's two largest policy banks have increased lending to countries in the region, albeit in much smaller amounts than what they ...

What’s Driving the Steady Decline in Chinese Overseas Development Lending?

There was a time when Chinese lending to developing countries rivaled the World Bank. Those days are now long gone as Chinese overseas development lending has been on a steady downward trajectory.
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