Category: Loans
AfDB President: “Africa Has Absolutely No Debt Crisis”
The Chinese are often accused of fueling a debt crisis in Africa due to excessive lending. While are certainly worrisome levels of debt in some countries, particularly Djibouti, Zambia and Kenya among others, the president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, told Bloomberg that worries ...
Kenyan Borrowing From Japan Surges as Chinese Lending Slows
New data from the National Treasury in Nairobi revealed a dramatic surge in borrowing from Japan, up 162% to more than $1.3 billion during the period of June 2018 to June 2019. The increase in Japanese loans comes as China is slowing its lending to Kenya. "China’s ...
Sinohydro Stops Work on Zambia Hydroelectric Dam
Citing "difficulties beyond its control" (translation: they haven't been paid), China’s state-owned Sinohydro has stopped work building the 750mw Kafue Gorge hydroelectric dam in Zambia, dealing a major blow for the country's drive for energy self-sufficiency and the livelihoods of thousands of workers on the project.
China Says it Believes in Debt Sustainability, Just Not the Way Everyone Else Does
Countries around the world, particularly in Africa, are taking huge amounts of Chinese debt to build badly-needed infrastructure but often without a plan on how to re-pay those loans. That’s given way for critics in the US, Europe, and Japan to ...
Amid Mounting Chinese Debts, “President Lungu is Running Out of Options.”
A bombshell report in Africa Confidential this reveals that Zambia has borrowed significantly more from Chinese companies than previously reported and now those Chinese creditors are not in much of a mood to negotiate or reschedule those debts.
Daily Nation’s Aggrey Mutambo on the Current State of China-Kenya Relations
The China-Kenya relationship is at a sort of inflection point right now where there is a palpable sense that the relationship has to change or else it risks deteriorating. The ballooning debt, yawning trade imbalance and the general lack of transparency ...
China-Africa 101: China’s Role in Africa’s Debt
One of the most talked-about issues in Africa-China relations today is debt. Africa is borrowing heavily from China and many observers worry that African governments do not have the capability to pay it back. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s trillion-dollar effort to connect Asia, Europe, ...
Kenya’s Appetite for Chinese Loans May Finally be Starting to Wane
During a meeting last week with Yang Jiechi, Chinese president Xi Jinping's special envoy for Africa and one of Beijing's most senior foreign policy officials, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta gave one of the first indications that the mounting pressure over his country's rising debt levels may ...
Zimbabwe Gets China, India Loans to Boost Power Generation
Zimbabwe has obtained three separate loans of just over US$108,3 million from the Export-Import Bank of China and Export-Import Bank of India to be used for power generation projects and broadband expansion. Government tied a loan agreement with the Export-Import ...
A Chinese Perspective on the African “Debt Trap” Debate
Aside from the politicians who attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing earlier this, seemingly few others were pleased to hear that China is providing Africa with another massive $60 billion package of loans and grants.